A Different Arrow Promise
by mjf2468
Summary: What if, during "The Promise", Oliver confronted Slade right away when Slade visited the Queen mansion? The beginning of the episode is unchanged, but the story radically goes off of canon from there. Certain aspects of canon show up in the story, but are presented in different ways. As Team Arrow is expanding, Oliver is concerned about what Slade has planned for revenge.
1. Chapter 1: Return of an Old Friend

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I do not, just the original ideas.

**Summary: An AU story taking place during season 2 episode 15, The Promise. The beginning of the episode is unchanged, but then it radically goes off of canon from there. What if Oliver confronted Slade right away when in the Queen mansion? I'm taking aspects of what has happened on the show, but presenting them in different ways. **

**What if there were less secrets? What if Moira admitted to Oliver she knows he was the Arrow?**

It had begun as an ordinary night. Oliver had been at the foundry, taking care of Arrow business, when he had gotten a '911' text from Thea, which meant he was needed at home. The one place where he didn't want to be due to the continued strain between him and his mother.

Oliver entered the mansion, slamming the door behind him. He yelled for his sister as he walked towards the living room, unaware of anyone else being present. His mother met him instead. "Why are you yelling, Oliver? I have company" she reprimanded him in a low, stern voice.

Moira gave him one of her characteristic steely glares, and motioned for him to follow her into the meticulously decorated living room. "Please act like the courteous young man I know you can be."

As she entered the living room, she stated, "Oliver, I would like you to meet Mr. Slade Wilson."

Oliver, carried by his momentum, swung around the corner and almost got whiplash at suddenly stopping upon hearing the name his mother had just spoken so nonchalantly. His eyes widened in surprise as he observed his sworn enemy slowly uncross his long legs, rose from the elegant armchair, and approach Oliver with his hand held out.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Queen," said the familiar Australian voice, with a note of derision Oliver was certain only he could hear through the pounding of the blood rushing in his ears.

Slade then gripped his hand in a deathly grasp. The clap which resulted echoed throughout the room, and Oliver stifled a grimace as his hand was threatened to be crushed by Slade's supernatural strength. Slade's glance pierced into Oliver as if he was attempting to peer into his soul.

How could the man who had tortured and tried to kill him on the island be alive and in his family's living room? Oliver had left him for dead on the Amazo three years ago.

"What... are… you…doing… here," Oliver barely got out through gritted teeth.

"Mr. Wilson is here to discuss my mayoral campaign. He has offered to make a sizable contribution to the cause." His mother explained, narrowing her eyes into her characteristic glare, the kind of look which usually would put Oliver in his place.

It took every bit of self-control Oliver had ever possessed to state in an even tone, "How generous of him," with a small, forced smile.

In an apparently friendly fashion, Slade looked earnestly at Oliver and stated, "I felt compelled. It was the least I could do for your mother. She's exactly what this city needs."

Oliver had no idea what to do. Should he play along until he could figure out what Slade was up to? Should he come up with some excuse and get his mother out of the house and away from Slade? He decided on a third option.

Looking at Slade, Oliver addressed his mother. "Could I have a moment alone with Mr. Wilson, Mother?"

Moira looked at her son in surprise. "Oliver, may I ask why?"

"Mother, please. Trust me on this."

Slade looked at Oliver, a grin slowly appearing on his face. "You see, Moira, your son and I are old acquaintances."

Moira looked first at her son, feeling the tension radiating from him, to the newest contributor to her campaign, who was as calm as he had been moments before. Deciding to play the courteous high-society woman, and avoid a scene, she decided to agree to her son's request.

"I will leave you two gentlemen to your business then. I will check on those quotes we were talking about, Mr. Wilson, and be back shortly."

Oliver watched his mother leave and walk across the hall to her office and close the door. He then abruptly turned towards Slade, who had nonchalantly taken a seat on one of the couches in the room. Oliver watched Slade lean comfortably into the cushions, casually stretching his arm out on the back of the couch.

Slade smiled again at Oliver. "Looks like you've done quite well for yourself this past year."

"Let's cut to the chase, Slade. What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you want to go straight to business? Okay. You showing up here at this time has caused me to change my plans."

"In what way?" Oliver asked, suddenly wary. But not wary enough.

"This way," and before Oliver could react, Slade had reached his side and knocked Oliver on the back of his head with a carefully placed karate chop. Oliver fell over, unconscious. Slade caught him before he fell to the ground and carried him over to a chair.

Sometime later, Oliver first became aware of being very uncomfortable with his arms bound painfully behind his back and his head throbbing from the hit he had received. His memory then returned in a flash. His eyes opened in alarm, and he looked around frantically. He didn't like the sight welcoming him.

His mother was sitting in a chair next to him, unconscious, with her hands tied behind her. He didn't see any other apparent injury. No blood stains, he breathed in relief. Oliver's gaze then fell across from him. Sitting across from them on the couch was Slade, again reclining comfortably back into the luxurious cushions. "Glad you're awake, Oliver. Now we can get to business."

"What did you do to my mother?"

"Just a little chloroform. Unlike you, your mother didn't rush my hand. And before you ask, I also took care of the housekeeping staff on tonight. "

"What do you want, Slade?"

Slade leaned towards Oliver and looked him in the eye. Holding Oliver's gaze, Slade then reached into his jacket and pulled out a knife with a three inch blade. "What do you think I want, Oliver?" He slid his gaze toward to the unconscious Moira next to Oliver.

Oliver swallowed, but held Slade's gaze. He knew how fragile Slade's hold on sanity was five years ago on the island, but now? Now, he had no idea where the Australian's mind was going. "Do you want me to beg for my life? For my mother's life? Would my begging bring Shado back?"

At the mention of his dead beloved's name, Slade jumped up and grabbed Oliver by the collar. "Don't you think I know that? I know it won't bring her back, but you need to be punished for what you didn't do for her. She chose _you_, and you let her down. Miserably."

"Slade, it wasn't my fault. Ivo was going to pull the trigger no matter what I did."

"Yes, but you brought that woman with you on the yacht. So no matter how you look at it, it was your fault she died."

"No it wasn't. I never wanted to be held prisoner on Lian Vu. I never asked to meet you. I never wanted to be there at all!"

"You do make some good points." Slade shrugged his shoulders. "But, I really don't care." He released his grip around Oliver's collar and straightened up. "I'm back in town for a particular reason. A very special reason." He looked at his knife then back at Oliver. "Do you remember what I promised you, back on the Amazo?"

Slade trailed the knife along Oliver's collarbone, ending at his Adam's apple. "I'm here to make good on that promise." Oliver stilled his body so that it wouldn't react to the memories of the last time Slade had held a knife to his throat. "It would be so easy to do this!" Oliver watched as Slade brought the knife down to his abdomen and quickly thrust it towards tender flesh.

Oliver closed his eyes without volition, thinking he was going to get stabbed. When no pain was felt, he opened his eyes only to meet the snide smile of his enemy. Slade had stopped the knife millimeters away from entering his skin.

Slade leaned back. "Scared you, didn't I? I did say it _would_ be so easy. Too easy. Time for such games later. Maybe with your sister. Or with your mother."

Suddenly, Slade brought the knife up and made a superficial cut along Oliver's cheekbone.

"We'll start with that, however."

Opening his jacket and holding Oliver's gaze, Slade replaced the knife into the side pocket. He brushed off his hands and walked behind the couch. "Now that I've accomplished my goals for tonight, I shall take my leave. I'm sure someone will come by, or wake up, to release you and your mother." Slade walked to the doorway and turned around. "Don't worry, though, I'll be back. To have another _conversation…_ with your _mother_. And meet your _sister._"

Oliver watched Slade leave through the front door. Before attempting again at his bonds, he looked around the room. Oliver wondered what else Slade had been up to with his visit while he and his mother were unconscious. Noting nothing out of place, he directed his attention to loosening his bonds.

"Oliver? What happened?" his mother said in a groggy voice. Oliver looked at his mother, surprised he hadn't noticed her waking up.

"Mom, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. How are you? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Moira groaned. "No, I don't think so. I don't know what happened. I was on my way back to this room when…I don't know what happened next. It went all dark." She looked Oliver in the eye. "What exactly happened between you and Slade?"

Oliver sighed. "It's a long story." Looking down, he continued. "I do apologize about not telling you everything that happened to me in the five years I was gone. I…I haven't told anyone everything. Perhaps someday I will."

"So, just tell me what I need to know now. Did you know Slade on the island?"

"Yes, we were friends at first. Then a woman he loved died because of a choice I made, which made him kinda insane. He blamed me then and he blames me now for her dying. He threatened to take away everything and everyone I love in retaliation, and now he's back to make good on that promise."

Moira swallowed the fear resulting from her son's frightening statement. Now her family had yet another enemy. She reminded herself they had indeed survived the undertaking, Malcolm Merlyn, and her trial. They will survive this man Slade Wilson and his evil plans for her family.

"Oliver, we've survived much this year. We _will_ survive this as well." Testing her bonds, she asked her son, "So, what's next?"

"I've been working on these ropes, and I might be able to get them loosened." Oliver suddenly was able to snap the remaining ropes off his wrists. "Whew. I thought maybe I was losing my touch," he said, half-way to himself.

Moira gave her son one of her characteristic 'are you keeping something from me?' mother looks upon hearing what he had said.

"What?" Oliver asked, adopting his characteristic wide-eyed innocent look he used when avoiding the truth.

"Oliver, I think it's way beyond time for us to have an over-due discussion. First, though, check on Raisa and Luis and make sure they're okay." She smiled. "After you untie me first."

Oliver had momentarily forgotten about the housekeeping staff. He felt a tinge of guilt, but he hurried over to his mother and untied her. He then rushed off to find the staff, the kitchen being the first place he searched. There he found Raisa and Luis tied up and sitting on the floor, apparently unharmed He untied their bonds, assisted them into a sitting position, and assessed for injuries.

"Mr. Oliver, don't worry about us. We're all right. Are you and Mrs. Queen okay?" Raisa raised her hand to Oliver's cheek and looked him in the eye.

Oliver smiled, appreciative of the love and loyalty Raisa once again showed him and his family. "Do you think you and Luis can make it to your homes without difficulty?"

"Mr. Oliver, aren't we calling the police about this?"

Oliver thought about it. How would this appear if they didn't report this to the police? Luckily both Raisa and Luis were loyal employees, and so Oliver made a decision

"This is a private family matter, Raisa, so we won't be involving the police at this time. I hope you can understand."

"Of course, Mr. Oliver. Luis and I will be able to find our ways home without a problem. You just take care of what you need to, my boy." She gave Oliver a look he felt held more meaning than it would appear on the surface.

As she walked away Oliver wondered again about the chances whether she actually didn't know about the Arrow. He had his suspicions before this night, but with her reactions to this latest incident, he could hardly doubt she didn't know. And she loved him regardless. It warmed his heart.

His attention then went back to his mother. Who was waiting in the living room for a "discussion". He had a feeling tonight was the night both women who had raised him realized the truth about him. He squared his shoulders and headed back to the living room to face the more difficult woman of the two.

"It's getting late, Mom. Maybe we should discuss this tomorrow," Oliver suggested, hoping she would agree but doubted she would.

"Now, Oliver, I don't buy it. I don't know what happened, but I woke up tied up in my own living room, and my son has blood on his face from a cut he didn't have before. This is something we can't wait to discuss until tomorrow." She rose from the couch and began to pace. "And we haven't even discussed why we're not calling the police about this. Someone assaulted us in our own home, and you don't appear to be affected by this."

"Like I said, I have a past history with this guy. I just don't know if we want the kind of publicity resulting from bringing the police in to investigate."

"Or is it that you're afraid they would discover evidence that you're actually the Arrow?"

**AN: What did you think? If you be so kind, please let me know via a review. Thanks for reading and enjoying this twist on one of my favorite Arrow episodes!**


	2. Chapter 2: The Kidnapping of Thea

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I do not, just the original ideas.

**AN: Thank you for all the reviews, favs and follows. This is one of my most popular stories so far, so that makes me feel great! Here's another chapter. Hope you enjoy it!**

Previously:

"_Or is it that you're afraid that they would discover evidence that you're actually the Arrow?"_

His mother's words echoed in his head. Oliver had to shake himself out of the paralysis her words put him in.

There. She had actually said it. _I was correct. She does know. _Oliver looked at his mother for signs letting him know how she felt about this. Whether she was going to call the police, or disown him. He couldn't tell.

"How long have you known?" The question barely passed his lips.

"Since the night of the Undertaking. You seriously didn't think I wouldn't pick up on the fact you approached me with information you couldn't have had in any other way?"

Oliver shrugged. "At the time, there were more important things to consider. Afterwards, you never confronted me about it."

"There was never a right time. First, I was arrested, then there was the trial. Finally, when I was released, and Malcolm came back to town…."

"What? Malcolm's back? He's alive?"

Moira sat down heavily on the couch and put her head in her hands. "Oh, no, I never meant for you to find out. And certainly not like this." Moira raised her head and looked at Oliver square in the eye. "Maybe it is the right time for no more secrets. We need to be honest with each other. Suddenly, our family has several very deadly threats facing us."

Oliver pinched the bridge of his nose in an attempt to fight off the threatening headache. "Well, we'll be safer, if we're all on the same page. I thought I was keeping you and Thea safe by not telling you everything. I certainly didn't want you to know I was the Arrow." He shook his head, trying to clear it, and sighed. "So, Malcolm is alive?"

"You thought you killed him, right? Unfortunately not. He told me the night of my trial he had returned to town to rig the jury. He's the reason I was found not guilty."

Oliver met his mother's eyes. He should've known. He did, actually. He had been shocked by the jury verdict. However, he hadn't been capable of thinking beyond the obvious, that the jury had been tampered with. And by one of his worst enemies.

"Why did he do it?"

"Because he found out about Thea."

Oliver suddenly remembered he was supposed to be angry with his mother, because of her supposedly betrayal. Because she hadn't told either him or his sister about the true nature of her paternity.

Moira watched her son struggle with his indecision. She stiffened, expecting an avalanche of emotions from her son. Instead, Oliver was frighteningly calm.

The question he finally asked surprised him as much as it did her. "Why, Mom? Why him?" her son asked softly, looking down at his clasped hands in his lap.

"It was only one night. We both needed comforting. He was broken over Rebecca. I had just found out about yet another one of your father's mistresses. After we did it I never wanted to see him again."

"Did Dad know?"

"Yes, yes he did, both about the night and Thea. But he accepted Thea as his own. In a way, it made our marriage stronger."

Oliver shook himself, not able to hold back a shudder at discussing his parents' sex life. "Well, I hate the fact Slade is back, gunning for me, but at least we got to air out some of our issues as a result."

"I'm so sorry, Oliver. I never meant to hurt either you or Thea."

"I know, Mom. But she really does need to know about Malcolm. And we have to tell her about Slade."

"Are you going to tell her about….that you are…you know…"

Oliver stopped and considered what to do. If he was indeed serious about no more secrets, of course that would include telling his sister he was the Arrow. Could he trust her to keep the secret? She was no longer the little girl he had left, or the immature teenager she was when he returned home. Yet he was torn about whether to trust her reaction to the news, and the importance of keeping the secret.

"I'm not sure if this is the right time to tell her that. I think we should first tell her about Malcolm, and Slade. Regarding the rest of it, I'm going to think about it."

"I don't know if there's ever a so-called _right_ time, Oliver. However, I will abide with whatever decision you make."

"Speaking of Thea, I forget. She sent me a text saying I was needed at home. That's why I came home early in the first place. So where is she?"

His mother showed the concern on her face. "With everything else, I forgot. It's getting late. She should be home." Rising from the couch, she went to the window and looked out. "I believe she was spending the evening with friends, but she said it would be an early night."

Oliver attempted to tamp down the sudden fear which flared within him. He couldn't help the sinking feeling in his gut something had happened to Thea, with Slade being responsible. However, he wanted to spare his mother any unnecessary worry, so he attempted to keep his voice free from concern.

"I'm sure you're correct, Mom." A sudden tiredness overcome Oliver, and he realized the time. "I think you should get some rest. It has been quite a night."

"Now that I no longer have to pretend ignorance about what you do at night, are you going to go to your 'hideout' and do whatever you do?" Moira asked with a smile.

Oliver laughed, delighting in the opportunity of sharing who he really was with his mother for the first time since his return. "I never thought it would feel so good in having you know, Mom." He went over to her and gave her a hug. She returned it with enthusiasm.

"And I have the opportunity to tell you how proud I am of you. Your father would be, too." Moira watched as the expression on her son's face change into a sad one.

"Did you ever wonder why I was doing it in the first place, Mom?"

"Of course I have. I always knew you had such potential in you, and…to be honest, I was disappointed you didn't apply yourself at any of those four universities you attended before the shipwreck." She sighed. "For you to return and risk your life every day for strangers…of course I wondered what had changed you."

"I'll tell you more about all of that some other time, but for now, just know I've been doing it because of Dad."

"Dad? Why?"

Oliver looked away from his mother to the distant wall. "He wanted me to correct his faults. He didn't tell me anything about the Undertaking, but only that he had done his city wrong and wanted me to correct this mistakes."

For the first time since her husband's death, Moira felt a sense of peace. Her husband had died knowing what they were doing was wrong, and wanted to correct it. "Thank you, Oliver, for telling me that. I can't tell you what it means for me to hear it."

Oliver gave a small smile and nod, acknowledging what she had said. "Why don't you go to bed? We will talk more tomorrow, okay?"

Moira nodded and left the room. Oliver sighed, raking his hands through his hair. _What a night._ He then thought of Thea, and how he had to make sure she was okay. He quickly put on his coat and left the house.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Thea felt pretty good about herself. She headed home after her evening with friends, believing she'd allowed her brother and mother enough time to talk out their problems. She, of course, had no idea what those problems were, since they were both too stubborn to tell her what was tearing them apart. _Whatever it was, though, they better have worked it out tonight, if they knew what's good for them_, she thought with a laugh.

She walked the short path between the garage and the house, reveling in the quiet of the evening. She certainly didn't expect company. Or large burly arms grabbing her and dragging her to the bushes. A smelly rag was put over her nose, and darkness followed.

Slade looked down at the unconscious girl in his arms. He marveled at the ease with which these Queens were subdued. He carried the girl over to his car, hidden in the woods behind the house, placed her on the back seat and closed the door.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

The darkness gradually receded, and Thea became aware of feeling cold. Her head began to let her know it wasn't feeling good. She tried to bring her hand to her head, but couldn't. Realization slowly leaked into her brain that her hands were tied behind her back and she was lying on her side.

Opening her eyes, the one light in the room shone right in her eyes. She blinked as her eyes became accustomed to the light. Deciding she would rather sit up she raised herself up, not expecting a wave of dizziness to flood her senses. She shook her head slightly, to clear out the cobwebs, without much success.

"I guess I gave you too much chloroform. I apologize," a baritone voice tinged with an Australian accent floated over to her.

Thea looked up slowly across the room, only to find a large man leaning against the doorway watching her. She battled to fight the wave of terror threatening to overcome her common sense.

"Who are you? Why am I here?"

"My name is Slade Wilson. I knew your brother on the island while he was away."

Thea pondered the strange information the threatening man had just told her. "My brother? He told us he was alone on the island."

Slade laughed a short bitter laugh. "He did? Guess he was ashamed of what happened there. I can believe it. He should be ashamed."

"Why? What did he do?"

"Your brother, your sainted brother, was responsible for the death of the woman I loved."

"How could that be? He'd never hurt anyone. He never _has_ hurt anyone in his entire life."

Another bitter laugh escaped from Slade's lips. Shaking his head, Slade said, "Oh, my dear. He really hasn't told you anything."

"What do you mean?"

"You know the man going around killing criminals? The Arrow, I believe they're now calling him? That's your brother."

"My brother is the Arrow?" Thea scoffed at the idea. "Now I know you're insane. My brother would never be capable of doing something like that. The Arrow, he's a hero, risking his life to help the city. My brother? I love him, but he's kind of a goofball."

"He may have been before the boat accident, but in the years since, he has become something different. And he spends his nights dressed in green running around after criminals."

"You said he killed the woman you loved? How did he do that?"

"You don't need to know right now. Just know for the moment he was responsible for her dying." Slade fixed upon Thea a look of such scorn it made her shiver. "And now…now I'm here to make him suffer for it."

Despite herself, Thea scooted across the bed closer to the wall, bringing her legs to her body. "What are you going to do?"

"Make him suffer by using everything he loves against him. Unfortunately, my dear, you are only the beginning." He then surprised Thea by turning to leave instead of approaching her.

Thea called out to him. "Please! What are you going to do?"

Turning, he fixed her with an even more sinister smile. "Part of my revenge? Allowing you to imagine what I'm going to do with you, while you wait for the rest of your family to join you here."

Sudden courage flowed into her as a protective instinct kicked in despite her young age. "I'm not letting you harm my family!"

Slade scoffed. "What are you, eighteen? What can a girl like you do? Nobody will be able to stop me. Not you. And especially not your brother."

Thea watched as her kidnapper left her in silence wondering what was going to happen to her and her family. She didn't doubt the man was serious in his intent to harm them. It suddenly occurred to her to question why Slade had been at the mansion in the first place. Did he harm her family before kidnapping her? She quickly calmed herself by remembering he had spoken about them in the present tense. Thea swallowed down the fear and turned her attention to trying to untie her bonds.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Oliver arrived at the foundry to find it in darkness. He was happy his teammates had called it an early night since he wasn't there. They always deserved whatever time off he could give them. He called up Felicity's computers, setting up several searches at once for both Slade and Thea. He also brought up the security cameras at the mansion, mainly to cover all bases, to observe Slade's actions around his family home.

He found what he was afraid he'd find. First, he observed Slade arriving at the mansion, his mother welcoming him into their family home, and closing the door without incident. Nothing out of the ordinary happened until Slade left. Oliver watched as he walked towards the garages. Attempting to get a better viewing, Oliver tried to call up the cameras by the garages. No luck. He sighed. However, the camera covering the grounds still worked. He searched it until he saw Thea's car drive up the driveway and into the garage. To his horror he then watched as Slade snuck up on her as she was leaving the garage, applying a rag to her mouth, and Thea collapsing into Slade's arms.

He was so concentrated on watching the video and fighting to control his anger and fear, he didn't hear Diggle enter the foundry.

"Hey, Man, what's up?" Diggle asked his partner.

Swinging his chair toward him, Oliver failed to hide his feelings from Diggle. "What are you doing back here?"

"Oh, I forgot my wallet. Do we have something going on now?" Diggle asked, nodding towards the active computers.

"We got trouble. An enemy from my past, whom I thought was dead, is back in town. He was at the mansion tonight, knocked my mother and me out, threatened us, and apparently left without further incident. At least that's what I thought. Instead, Thea came home just as he was leaving, and, according to the surveillance video, he…Slade kidnapped her."

"Oh, man…."

Oliver raked his hands through his hair and looked up at Diggle with the saddest look in his eyes Diggle had ever seen. "You don't understand. I don't even know how to begin. It's a long story. Basically, Slade is insane. Crazy bent on revenge."

"And that makes him even more dangerous."

"You have no idea, Dig. He made me a promise years ago on the island he won't kill me until I suffered the same way he felt he had suffered, feeling total and complete despair. He threatened to take away everyone and everything I love."

"Why is he doing this? What happened between you two?"

"We were friends, attempting to get off the island, until a renegade named Ivo made me choose between Sara and a woman we both loved. Ivo had captured us three, and was holding us at gunpoint. He told me to choose which woman to die. Before I could choose, he pointed the gun at Sara. I reflexively threw myself in front of her and demanded Ivo kill me instead. But Ivo turned the gun on Shado, killing her, before I could do anything to stop him." Oliver lowered his head into his hands. "Ivo said I had made my choice."

Diggle looked at his friend in shock. _The more Oliver tells us about the island, the more I'm amazed he was able to come back at all._ "Man…how terrible."

"Yeah, it took me years to figure out he never meant to give me a choice. He himself was in love with Sara. He just wanted to mess with me. And he did, quite well."

"Why couldn't this Slade understand that?"

Oliver shrugged. "This is the second part of the story. He had been injected with a super serum called Mirakuru. It gives a person super strength, if it doesn't kill them." Oliver looked at Dig, waiting for him to interrupt, but Dig was quiet. "It also could make a person insane."

"Thus the crazy idea of revenge," Dig nodded in agreement.

Oliver couldn't stand it anymore, and began to pace. "I have to find my sister, Dig!"

"You have something this Slade didn't count on. You have Felicity, Roy, Sara and me. You have a _team_, Oliver. Let _us_ help you, and we'll get you through this. You and your family."

Oliver looked up into his friend's eyes and felt the first glimmer of hope. He nodded, feeling the beginnings of a new resolve coursing through his blood. As he was about to say something, Felicity's computer alarm went off. Oliver looked at the screen then turned to Dig with one raised eyebrow.

"Hmm. Supposedly I got a trace on the truck Slade used to kidnap Thea. It stopped at a warehouse in the Glades."

"It seems too easy, Bro." Diggle said cautiously.

Oliver sighed and rubbed his chin. "Yeah, I know. My thoughts exactly." He paused and fixed upon Dig a determined look. "We still need to check it out though."

"Why?"

"Because he has my sister, and he's holding all the cards," Oliver said softly.

Diggle fixed Oliver a determined look. "Not _all_ the cards, remember?"

Oliver nodded, acknowledging his friend's wisdom.

**AN: Thank you so much for reading. Hope you are still enjoying this AU story. It's fun to add different details that I thought should've or could've been part of the series. If you wish, I would appreciate a review. Stay tuned for the next chapter!**


	3. Chapter 3: The Search Begins

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I do not, just the original ideas.

**AN: Thanks again for all the reviews, favs, and follows. The response to this story has been wonderful. Hope you enjoy this chapter. **

Previously:

"_Because he has my sister, and he's holding all the cards," Oliver said softly. _

_Diggle fixed Oliver a determined look. "Not all the cards, remember?"_

_Oliver nodded, acknowledging his friend's wisdom_

Digg looked at his friend. He couldn't believe how rattled Oliver was over this guy Slade's return. Diggle wondered what else he didn't know about this guy who had Oliver spooked so. Of course, it wouldn't be Oliver if there weren't still secrets untold about his life. Dig still held hope that someday Oliver would be forthright with his family and friends about his life and feelings. Until then, Digg resolved to continue giving Oliver the support he needed despite not knowing all the secrets.

"I think we need to call Felicity and Roy in, to help us with this. If you want to do this tonight."

Oliver was quiet for a moment, looked down at some of his arrows on the table, and said, "I think I should go by myself."

He thought he was prepared for Dig's reaction, but instead was taken aback by it. "Whaaat? No way, Oliver. In no way, shape, or form are you facing this idiot alone. You haven't told me enough about him, but if he has this super strength, what makes you think you can handle him by yourself?'

"I have before, and I don't want anything to happen to any of you."

"Bull crap, Man! It's getting tiresome, your lone warrior pattern you fall into every time you're threatened or under stress."

"Because it's the only way I know how to deal with all of this."

Dig got a handle on his anger and said in a normal voice, "I know, Oliver, I know. But don't kid yourself. In no way are we allowing you to do this on your own. _Not_ this time."

Oliver sighed. "All right. But you go pick Felicity up. I'll call Roy."

Dig shook his head. "She's not going to like that, Man."

Oliver smiled and shrugged. "I know, but I don't care. She'll understand." He grimaced. "Someday. Maybe."

"But will she forgive you?" Digg said with a smile, and dodged an arrowhead Oliver threw at him.

Oliver picked up his phone to call the blonde dynamo and explain the situation to her. He could only hope she indeed wouldn't give him too much grief about his supposed overprotectiveness.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

"Okay, I haven't seen any changes in the heat signatures in the building, Oliver." Felicity's voice came over the comm while "her boys" were driving to the location in the van.

"So Oliver, what's the plan?" Diggle asked from the driver's seat.

"You and Roy take the back, and I'll enter from the front. Try not to engage Slade, if you can, until I'm there."

"Oliver…"

"I'm serious, Digg. Let me deal with him, if you can."

Roy, who was battling keeping his nervous energy under control, said "Don't worry, Oliver. Remember, I have the mirakuru too."

Oliver turned suddenly on the younger man. "Make no mistake, Roy. You are in no way on the same level as Slade. Slade has had five years to become accustomed to the effects of the mirakuru. He was also an experienced ASIS agent before the island."

Roy swallowed a wave of unjustified anger at feeling like he was being talked down to, and pushed it down. He reminded himself of Oliver's worry about Thea. "Got it. But we still got your back."

"I know."

The team reached the side of the suspected building and quickly got out. The other two headed for the back, while Oliver approached the front cautiously, scanning the environment for any possible signs of trouble. Seeing none, he entered. Into blackness.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Consciousness slowly returned. Head pounding, limbs tied securely to the chair he found himself sitting on, Oliver became aware of his chest hurting, as well as discomfort in his abdomen. Memories crashed into his awareness. _What'd Slade do? Use my unconscious body as a punching bag and soccer ball? Luckily, only bruised ribs and a sore stomach. Nothing broken. _ Oliver's survival instinct kicked in. Waiting for all of his senses to become fully aware before opening his eyes, Oliver strained to hear any sounds of the environment. Before he could process anything, a familiar voice was heard.

"Open your eyes, Kid, I know you're awake."

Oliver opened his eyes. Slade was across from him, leaning against the wall. "What are you doing, Slade?"

"What I promised you. Bringing as much despair to your life as I can."

Looking around, Oliver failed to see his two teammates. Fear gripped his heart as he forced himself to look at Slade with as much fierceness as he could muster. "Where are they?"

"Wouldn't you like to know."

Unable to judge how long he was out, Oliver had no clue as to what had happened to Digg and Roy. He waited as long as he could for Slade to make his next disparaging remark, but couldn't wait any longer.

"Where are they, Slade? Where's my sister?"

Slade slowly walked in a circle around him. "I was able to capture you twice in one day. You're slipping, Oliver. Or maybe you never had it to begin with. After all, I did have to teach you all you know."

Struggling against his bonds, Oliver wasn't surprised to find no give whatsoever in them. "I have learned a thing or two since we were on the island." Looking directly into Slade's eyes, Oliver said, "I'm getting tired very fast of this game, Slade. What do you want me to say?"

"I'm having fun." Slade walked in front of Oliver and kneeled in front of him, close enough to taunt but just out of reach of a possible head bump however. "Remember, I'm going to make you suffer. Tremendously."

Deciding to try a different approach, Oliver decided to go straight to the point. "Please. Not my sister. Or my family… my team."

Slade made a tsk-tsk noise and shook his head. "Oh, Oliver, what do you think would hurt you the most?" He stood up. "I'm going to leave you here now and let you think about it."

"At least tell me they're still alive! Thea, Roy and Digg!"

"Yes, they are. For now. However, they might not be in the best of health, especially the two men."

Reminding himself not to fall for Slade's games, Oliver kept his tone even. "You will _not_ hurt anyone I love," he said in his best Arrow voice.

"We'll have to see, wouldn't we? Until next time, Oliver."

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Oliver continued to struggle against his bonds, but was only able to loosen them slightly. His mind frantically went through any and all ideas as to how to proceed, how to find his missing friends and sister when he heard someone approaching. His head snapped in alarm in the direction of the noise, but breathed easier when he saw it was Sara. She noted he gave no indication for needed caution, so she approached him without hesitation.

"I leave for a week and you get into trouble again, Arrow."

"Very funny, Canary, very funny. Get over here and let me out of these ropes, why don't you?"

"Sheesh, patience please." However, her face was serious as she reached Oliver's side and cut through his bonds with her knife.

"Oracle called and said she had lost contact with you guys for over an hour. What happened?"

"Slade happened."

Sara stilled, and turned on Oliver with eyes wide and mouth open. "What? Did I hear you right?"

"Yeah, Slade's alive. Back with a vengeance. I don't know how; we didn't have time to become _that_ reacquainted yet." Oliver closed his eyes then opened them revealing to Sara the level of pain he was feeling. "He showed up at the mansion tonight, as a potential donor to Mom's political campaign."

"He didn't harm Moira?"

"No, but I asked her to step out of the room to have a little chat with Slade, when he knocked me out. When I came to, Mom and I were tied up, and she was unconscious. Sara, the last time we saw each other, Slade promised me he would bring me total despair. I…I think he just might be able to do it."

"Ollie, we beat him before. We _will_ beat him again."

"He has Thea." Sara gasped as Oliver continued. "After he played word games with me, he supposedly left the mansion. Thea unfortunately came home at that time, and he…he took her. I don't know where she is."

"Oh, Ollie!"

"I was able to supposedly track Slade's van to this building. I _knew_ itwas a trap…"

"But you came here because you had to know for sure."

"Sara, he also has Roy and Diggle."

Sara gave a sigh of relief. At least she was able to relieve some of Oliver's anxiety. "No, I found them tied up and unconscious by the back door. No apparent injuries. I untied them and continued to search the building. I didn't find anything else except you."

Oliver sighed and breathed a short prayer of thanksgiving. "But he still has Thea, and I have no idea where."

"Oh, I can't believe I forgot." Sara turned on her communicator. "Felicity, I found Oliver. Tied up, worried, but okay."

Oliver heard through Sara's comm Felicity's exclamation of relief. "Tell her we're on our way back to the Foundry."

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Thea continued to work on loosening her bonds without success. She looked around the small room with disgust. No way of escape was possible. The only piece of furniture in the room was the cot, and she couldn't take it apart without tools. There was no window, and she couldn't hear any sounds from outside to let her know where she was.

She sat back on the cot with a big sigh. Suddenly she remembered the big news Slade had told her. With so much going on, she had overlooked reviewing that bombshell. Oliver, her brother, _the screw-up_, was actually the Arrow. Why did he lie to everyone about being alone on the island when clearly he wasn't? She wondered what else he had lied to them about. Her mind felt like it could disintegrate into a million tiny pieces as she attempted to wrap her head around the news.

Thea felt a large yawn coming on. _Guess I can't do anything else but try to get some sleep. I'm probably going to need all the rest I can get. _She laid down and attempted to get comfortable, even with her arms tied behind her back. Despite herself, she felt some tears leak out, worrying about what this unknown man had in store for her and her family.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Oliver rushed to the back of the building, Sara following. He was ecstatic upon seeing his friends sitting on the ground, in pain but clearly alive.

"Man, do I have a headache!" Roy complained, seeing Oliver and Sara approach.

"Hush, Roy, don't make mine worse by your complaining," Diggle said in an attempt at levity. Sara rolled her eyes, and Diggle gave a shrug.

"What happened, guys?" Oliver asked as he leaned over Roy, checking him for injuries. Roy tried to push Oliver's hand over, but stopped upon receiving a glare from Oliver.

"We didn't see anyone when we entered. I guess I felt a little prick on the neck…" Diggle said.

"And I don't know how, but I was knocked out as well. Also by a dart."

Oliver had gotten up and was searching the ground. He found a dart, picked it up carefully and smelled it. "Tibetan pit viper venom. That's why it knocked you out, Roy." Oliver sighed, then mumbled, "Of course, Slade knows you were injected with the mirakuru. What doesn't he know?" He put his head in his hands in defeat.

Diggle struggled to his feet and walked over to Oliver. He gripped Oliver by the shoulders to face him. "Come on, Oliver, it'll be alright. It will."

Roy asked, first noticing how Oliver was guarding his side. "What happened to you while we were out?"

"Slade jumped me. When I woke up, I was tied up. I think he used me as a punching and kicking bag first, though. We exchanged words, he led me to believe he was going to take you with him, and left."

"Of course he didn't tell you where Thea is."

"Of course not." A sudden tremor of dread shot through Oliver. "Sara, give me your comm. Slade broke mine." Sara handed her comm as Oliver grabbed it out of her hand. He placed it in his ear and quickly said, "Felicity! Are you there, Felicity?" While he waited for her reply, Oliver asked, "Have you heard from her in the last five minutes, Sara? Any noise from her end at all?"

"What do you take me for, Oliver? No, I didn't hear any signs of struggle. She hasn't said anything, but you know how she is. If nothing is happening, she tries not to say anything when we're in the field."

Oliver was too distraught to acknowledge the truth in what Sara was saying. Instead, he turned away from the group and spoke again into the comm. "Felicity! Please answer!"

"Sorry, Oliver, Ms. Smoak is unavailable at this time."

"Slade!"

"Just to let you know, Oliver, we are on our way now to join Thea. Now I have two women you care about."

Oliver closed his eyes. He tried not to panic at the memory those words conjured up for him. Pulling all of his resources, Oliver spoke in his most threatening Arrow voice, "You will _not_ harm either of them."

"We shall see. I will be in touch."

**AN: Thanks again for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. If you like, please leave a review, and see you next time with another exciting chapter. **


	4. Chapter 4: The Battle Ensues

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I do not, just the original ideas.

**AN: I'm sorry for the delay with this! Hope you enjoy the twists and turns I have tried to put into this story. If you want, you can PM me any other secrets I should uncover in the story. Otherwise, I hope you keep enjoying this AU story.**

Previously:

"_Just to let you know, Oliver, we are on our way now to join Thea. Now I have two women you care about."_

_Oliver closed his eyes. He tried not to panic at the memory those words conjured up for him. Pulling all of his resources, Oliver spoke in his most threatening Arrow voice, "You will not harm either of them."_

"_We shall see. I will be in touch."_

As static came across the line, Oliver cried out, "Slade. Slade!"

Sara took Oliver in her arms. "She's going to be okay. They both will. We will get them both back."

"Sara, you know what he's going to do. He's going to reenact what happened with you and Shado on the island."

Roy and Diggle exchanged puzzled glances, not knowing the story behind the statement.

"You don't know that, Oliver. He might have just said it to unsettle you."

"Well, it worked. I can't get a handle on this. How did he find the foundry? What else does he know about my life?"

"Oliver, try not to panic. It's getting late. We all should try to get some rest. There's not much we can do right now. I'm sure Slade won't contact you any more tonight."

Oliver reluctantly agreed. At least his team needed rest. He himself wasn't sure if he would be able to fall asleep at all. They headed out to their respective homes in silence.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Thea heard someone approaching, and debated quickly whether she should stand up. She could barely take out a guard by surprise on a good day. With her arms tied behind her, she was even less of a threat to anyone. Sighing, she continued to sit on the side of the bed and waited for the door to open.

It opened slowly, revealing Slade carrying a petite blonde woman in his arms. He approached Thea, and indicated with a nod of his head for her to stand up away from the bed. Thea got up and moved to the side, as he laid the woman on the bed. He fixed Thea a somber look and left, without saying a word.

Thea quickly knelt by the bed to check out the woman. She felt helpless with her hands tied, but she tried her best. The young woman had no obvious injuries and was breathing without difficulty, which made Thea a little happier. As she took in the blond hair and bright lips, Thea suddenly realized who the woman was. Oliver's Executive Assistant. Why would she be here? A connection popped into her head. If Oliver was indeed the Arrow, he would need assistance. Thea had heard rumors about why Oliver was spending so much time with his EA. Now she knew why those rumors were wrong. And why she was now here with Thea.

The young woman began to stir. Thea began to talk to her. "Hey, are you okay? Are you waking up? Slade probably gave you the same stuff he gave me to knock me out." Thinking she might need reassurance, Thea rushed on. "You'll be okay. I had a headache too, but it goes away."

Felicity began to register someone was talking to her. She then became aware of the pounding in her head. Then she realized her hands weren't of use to her, being tied behind her back. Suddenly, she remembered the threat around them and her eyes shot open.

Looking around wildly, she took in the solid oak door, the bars on the window high above the floor, and the young woman kneeling beside her.

"Oh, Thea, you're okay. You are okay, right? Slade hasn't hurt you, has he?"

Felicity struggled to sit up while she was anxiously waiting for Thea to answer.

"Me? You've been kidnapped as well and you're worried about me?"

Felicity shrugged. "I feel okay, I guess, and your brother has been worried sick about you."

Thea decided now wasn't the time to explore the true nature of her brother's relationship with the young woman in front of her. But she was determined to get to the bottom of it when she got a chance. Felicity's answer also lent fuel to the fire, showing the other woman's concern for Oliver over her own well-being. Interesting. Thea filed the information away for future consideration and turned her attention back to Felicity.

Felicity shook herself and said, "Oh, I suppose you're wondering who I am. I'm Felicity….Felicity Smoak. I work with your brother. As his executive assistant."

"I thought so. Do you know what this is all about?" Thea asked, wanting to go slowly in case she was wrong about Felicity working with her brother. She certainly wouldn't want to reveal her brother's secret to just anyone, if they didn't already know.

Felicity suddenly was unsure as to how to proceed. How was she to explain her presence in all of this, if this were only a "Queen-revenge" plot? But she already gave it away that she knew Thea had been kidnapped, so she had to proceed.

"The man who kidnapped you, he's out for revenge against your brother. For…" Felicity struggled to find an explanation. "For revenge. I'm not clear as to why, because…because there wasn't enough time for your brother to explain it all to me."

Thea decided not to prolong the discussion. "Yes, Slade told me. He also told me…" Thea looked Felicity square in the eye. "What my brother does at night."

Thea wasn't too surprised to watch as Felicity's eyes widened, and she opened and closed her mouth several times. Thea thought she looked like a goldfish. "Um…what do you mean?"

Thea rolled her eyes. "Do _you_ know what he does at night?"

The two women looked at each other, uncertain as to who should say it. Finally Felicity said, "Slade told you Oliver is the…"

"Arrow. Yes, he said my brother, the one who has always been more interested in partying than righting any wrongs, has been dressing in green and taking down criminals." Thea took a breath and said, "You help him with that, don't you?"

Felicity closed her eyes. If they survived all of this, she wondered what Oliver's reaction to this would be. "Yes, he's correct. Oliver is the Arrow, and I've been helping him for a year now. Also, Diggle, his bodyguard, also helps out as well."

"You know, this all makes things so much more clear."

Felicity laughed at the similarity of Thea's reaction to her own words when she first found out. "Yes, I agree. That was also my first reaction. Actually, that was the first thing I said to Oliver that night."

"How did you find out?"

"The night your mother shot your brother, he ended up in the back seat of my car."

"What?" Thea thought how crazy this all was.

Felicity gave a sigh. "Yes, unbelievable isn't it?" She gave a little shrug. "Not one of your brother's brighter ideas. He wanted to get information from your mother about Malcolm and the undertaking, and he thought the only way she would tell him was by threatening her."

Thea recalled the events of that night. She remembered how scared she had been to hear her mother actually confronted the Arrow. Now to find out it had been her brother. She could only shake her head at the craziness of it all.

"I would suggest you both get some sleep now and have your girl chat tomorrow. You'll need all your strength for when your 'hero' arrives tomorrow to 'rescue' you." The baritone voice of their kidnapper interrupted their talk.

Felicity gasped loudly and Thea startled as they both looked up at the doorway and observed the large man leaning there. Slade gave them a lazy smile and a wink. "I apologize for the surroundings, Ms. Smoak. However, you won't be here for too much longer. I also hope you don't have much of a headache." He turned around and left, leaving the two women speechless.

"How typical of a mad villain, making it all sound so ominous, right?" Felicity asked, attempted to be light-hearted.

Thea had caught the look of terror crossing Felicity's face when Slade had mentioned the "not be here very long" comment. _I wonder what he meant by that as well. It doesn't sound good._

"Well, we better get to sleep. I'll sleep on the floor," Thea volunteered.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Oliver laid down to rest, because he had promised Dig he would. As he laid there, tossing and turning, his mind raced to review every single detail. Every single possibility of where Slade could be holding Thea and Felicity. Wondering what to do and how to combat it.

His mind finally came up with an idea to combat the possible scenario Slade might be planning. He then fell into an uneasy sleep, for five hours. When he woke again, he did feel rested. He was glad he had such good friends looking out for him.

At 6am his phone rang. Oliver looked at the caller ID, and of course it said unknown. "Hello."

"How'd you sleep? Just to let you know your sister and Ms. Smoak had a lovely evening getting acquainted."

"I want to speak to them."

"No, not possible. You will see them soon enough.

"What do you want me to do?"

"Come to the address I'm texting you. Alone. If any of your team make an appearance one of the women will die."

"They better be okay, Slade."

"Just show up and you'll see soon enough how they are for yourself." Oliver then heard the dial tone as Slade hung up.

Oliver looked at the phone and resisted the urge to throw it across the foundry. He needed to leave, now. No time at all to gather his team. He sent a text to his team letting them know he was going, but not the address. He didn't like it, but he had to follow Slade's instructions down to the letter.

He got onto his Ducati and went to the address. He parked his cycle and took a look around. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. _Of course not. _He walked into the building and sensed movement behind him. He swung around just in time to block a punch from Slade, barely registering the pain brought on by Slade's super strength. Oliver tried to outsmart Slade, hitting him with a combination of punches to his abdomen and face, drawing upon the fighting knowledge not taught him by Slade. Having no other weapons but his fists and his mind, Oliver tried to get the upper hand, evading some punches, but withstanding others. He was able to get in a successful roundhouse kick, sending Slade backwards. Slade quickly recovered and came at Oliver at a running tackle, bringing them both to the floor. Oliver continued to try for the upper hand, kicking and boxing, but to no avail. He tried not to allow Slade get behind him, but Slade flipped his body around, and got him into a choke hold. Oliver struggled to get out of the hold, but slowly lost consciousness and felt himself sliding down to the ground.

Slade looked down at the unconscious man at his feet and smiled. He shook his head. _The young pup still has a lot to learn._

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Felicity and Thea watched as Slade carried Oliver into the room from their position in the middle of the room. Slade had gagged them, reinforced the bonds around their wrists, and forced them on their knees before leaving. Now he returned with Oliver looking the worse for wear, his face bloody, and unconscious. For the first time, Felicity felt real fear. More so than what she had felt with Vertigo. At least during the time with Vertigo she had the hope of rescue from Oliver, even though she was more scared than she had ever been in her life.

Slade dropped Oliver down on the floor and Felicity flinched as she heard the groan coming from the unconscious Oliver as he landed onto the floor. Slade looked at the women, gave a small smile, and proceeded to kick Oliver in the stomach several times. He laughed at the protests sounding around Felicity's gag.

"Oh, you think that's bad? He's used to so much more pain. Maybe I will show you later." Slade knelt down beside Oliver's slumped form and slapped Oliver's cheeks several times in an attempt to wake him up. "He sure sleeps soundly, once he falls asleep." Slade said with a short laugh.

Oliver began to register someone slapping him in the face. He weakly tried to pull away and avoid the slaps, but they only increased. His eyes finally found their way open and he tried to focus on the man in front of him. Waking up fully, he realized he was lying on his side on the factory floor. Looking beyond Slade, Oliver was hardly surprised to see Felicity and his sister kneeling some distance in front of him, their arms tied behind their backs. Thea met his eyes trying to hide the fear in hers, while Felicity gave a little grimace and an eye roll. Oliver struggled to an upright position on his knees as Slade's voice floated over to him.

"So, the hero finally wakes up. Hurry up, Oliver, the women have been waiting an awful long time for you to wake up."

Struggling to sit up straighter, Oliver looked at Slade, standing behind the women with a self-satisfied look upon his face. His head was aching, his face was sore, his side felt like he had several broken ribs, and he was out of ideas. His worst nightmare was becoming true, and he had no idea as to what to do to get them out of here alive.

"Slade, you have me now. You don't need either of them. Let them go."

"And why should I do that?"

Deciding to throw pride out the window, Oliver said, "Because I beg you to."

Slade gave out a loud laugh, his head rolling back and his whole body shook. Oliver wondered if the man had truly lost all sense of sanity. "Oh Oliver, I know how much it cost you to say. However, your begging's not enough."

The laugh died as quickly as it had started and a coldness returned to Slade's eyes. Oliver watched in horror as Slade pulled out a gun. He met Slade's eyes as Slade drilled a look into his soul. Slade slowly trained the gun first on Thea, then on Felicity.

"Who should it be, Oliver? Since you appreciated this scenario so much on the island, I thought how fitting to carry it out now using two women you love."

Oliver forgot being aware of his ankles being bound as he struggled to stand but failed. "You can't be serious, Slade. Neither one of them deserves to die. Shado wouldn't want this."

"Shado isn't here, is she? So she can't tell us, can she?"

Slade took several steps closer to Thea. Oliver couldn't catch the gasp involuntarily escaping from his lips. "This one? Your sister? What is your sister in light of your love?" He walked over to Felicity and grabbed her ponytail. Felicity yelped, and Oliver jumped. "Or this one? What is she in light of family loyalty?" Slade let go with a gesture of disgust, and Felicity felt herself falling forwards. He then grabbed her ponytail again to pull her back into an upright position before she hit the floor. Felicity yelped again but then looked at Oliver, giving her head a slight shake in warning. Her eyes begged Oliver not to do anything rash.

Oliver attempted to crawl over to the women, but was making slow progress. Slade shook his head and laughed again. "Tsk, tsk, Oliver. You really think you could prevent all this from happening? Only as well as you did with Shado's shooting, I'm afraid." He pointed the gun again at Thea. "Well, since you reacted more strongly with Felicity, I guess I will shoot your sister."

Just as Slade aimed the gun at Thea's head, a whoosh was heard. Oliver saw Slade pull out an arrow out of his hand as a blur in black rushed into the room and aimed itself at Slade. An unknown assailant began to hit Slade with a combination of punches to his abdomen, face, and back. Slade was knocked onto the ground with a combination of a roundhouse kick and jumps.

Oliver attempted to figure out who their unknown rescuer was. The combatants sparred for a few minutes, both struggling to get the upper hand without any indication as to who would be the winner. Suddenly Slade was able to knock the other man into the ground, then crashed his opponent's head into the ground several more times when police sirens were heard.

Slade looked up from the unconscious man on the ground, and said, "I guess those sirens are my cue to leave. Not the way I thought this would end, but until next time…."

Oliver watched him leave and puzzled over the suddenness of the events. He again looked over the man on the floor as moans indicated he was waking up. As he struggled into a sitting position his hood slid off his head and Oliver was able to fully recognize it to be Malcolm.

"Well, Oliver, hope you appreciate my help," Malcolm said, holding his head in his hand.

"I must say, I'm surprised you actually risked bodily harm to help me. I have to wonder why."

Malcolm fixed Oliver a sardonic grin. "You do? I thought it would be obvious." He turned to look at Thea watching the scene with wide eyes. "Why wouldn't I come save my daughter?"

Thea gasped through her gag, eyes widened, and looked at Oliver with a pained expression. Felicity sighed, shook her head and thought how this wasn't going to end well. Oliver looked at all three of the others, and wondered how everything could have gone to hell so quickly.

**AN: Looks like several more secrets have bit the dust. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Still working on improving my writing of action scenes, so I beg your indulgence with those. I'd appreciate if you would leave a review and let me know what you think, and come back for the next chapter. Thanks again for reading, following and reviewing! And if you have any ideas regarding what other secrets should be uncovered, please let me know!**


	5. Chapter 5: Thea wants to talk

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I do not, only the original ideas.

**AN: Well, I suppose this is what they call a filler chapter. But oh so necessary. At least I think so…character development is good as well as action, right? A lot of fluff among the members of Team Arrow, and teasing, especially as Thea becomes part of the team. Hopefully there are conversations you wish would've occurred on the show. Enjoy!**

**AN2 07/20/15: I apologize, but due to a guest reviewer's critique, I realized I made a ****huge faux pas**** in not addressing Roy's appearance and how Thea would have reacted to him being there. So I've rewritten this chapter to address that. One thing: Roy didn't have a code name at this point**** in the show, I believe. So...I'm diverging from canon and calling him Red Arrow. I don't want to go too far out of canon to call him Arsenal, but I really wish I could. So I will stick with Red Arrow. I unfortunately can't recall if they actually ever used that name on the show…but I think they should have. Anyhow, with no further delay, here's the chapter. **

Previously:

_Malcolm fixed Oliver a sardonic grin. "You do? I thought it would be obvious." He turned to look at Thea watching the scene with wide eyes. "Why wouldn't I come save my daughter?"_

_Thea gasped through her gag, eyes widened, and looked at Oliver with a pained expression. Felicity sighed, shook her head and thought how this wasn't going to end well. Oliver looked at all three of the others, and wondered how everything could have gone to hell so quickly. _

Malcolm laughed and asked, "Oh, Oliver, did you forget to tell your sister something?"

Thea herself fixed a look onto her brother making him almost wish he could disappear. She tried to say something around her gag but was unsuccessful. Her eyes, however, communicated the message well enough for Oliver to know he was in for quite a discussion once she was free of her bonds and gag.

Oliver glared at Malcolm and fixed a loving glance upon his irritated sister. "I will explain everything, once we get out of here." Nodding towards his back, Oliver said, "Malcolm, a little help here? Please untie me so we can get out of this place."

Malcolm got up, dusted off his slacks, and walked over to Thea. He removed her gag. As he took a knife out and cut her bonds he said, "Well, I should just leave you here, Oliver, but for the sake of my daughter, I will let her decide whether to untie you." He handed Thea the knife and said, "I leave it up to you whether you free these two." Smiling his 'Malcolm" smile, he said, "I will take off now. Don't worry, though, I will be in touch. I'm sure you'll be needing my assistance again with this Slade guy. I certainly want to hear more about him myself." Looking at Thea, he said, "And I'm sure we have lots of things to catch up on, my daughter. You'll hear from me, Thea. Stay safe."

Oliver watched as the cursed man left. He rolled his eyes and turned towards his sister. "Thea, please cut the ropes so we can get out of here."

Thea walked over to her brother and sliced through the ropes. "Thank you, Thea." He took the knife out of Thea's lax hands. "I'll free Felicity. Then we'll get the hell out of here."

Felicity watched Oliver walk towards her. Her heart was breaking at the look on his face. _I wish he wouldn't worry so much. And have more faith in his family and friends. _

Trying to be as gentle as possible, Oliver removed the gag from Felicity's mouth. Cupping her cheek, Oliver gently guided her eyes to his. "How are you, really? Did he hurt you?"

"No, he didn't. He really didn't, Oliver. I think he only wanted to scare you."

"No, he really would've hurt either you or Thea if Malcolm hadn't arrived." Slicing through the ropes in a rough gesture, he then assisted Felicity to a standing position. Exhaling loudly, he said, "Are you okay with accompanying me as I take Thea out for lunch?" Oliver captured her eyes. Felicity saw within their depths his unspoken plea to accompany them. "Help me explain things to her?"

"Yes, I think that would be one terrific idea. Big Belly Burger is just the right thing to wash the aftertaste of one Slade Wilson and Malcolm Merlyn from our minds."

Oliver gave her a smile, and turned to his sister. "Let's go for some food." Anticipating Thea's comment, he caught his sister's eyes and continued, "And answers."

Thea grudgingly nodded. They headed towards the exit when Felicity asked, "Wait a minute. Don't you want to take a look around to see if Slade left anything useful? He did leave in a hurry."

"Please allow us to look while you go eat," Diggle said, as he and Roy, in a red hoodie and a black ski mask over his face, entered the room.

"So glad you let us know what was going on, Partner," Roy said in a false voice with a twisted smile.

Oliver turned in alarm, recognizing Roy's voice despite his attempt at disguising it. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Roy's disguise and shrugged. "I couldn't. There wasn't enough time and Slade said to come alone."

Diggle placed a hand on Roy's shoulder and they both looked at Oliver. "You see, Red Arrow, Oliver has a problem with doing things on his own. He's the original lone wolf."

Roy nodded. "I see. So, oh Great One, what _are_ we going to do about him?"

With a serious look on his face, Diggle said, "We'll have to have a discussion with the boy here about going off on his own. At some other time." Turning his gaze on Oliver he said, "You better believe we will have that discussion. Soon."

Oliver raised his hands. "Point taken. I know it's something I have to get better at." Catching Thea's scowl, Oliver said, "Thanks, guys, you check this place out. Please be careful. I will accompany the ladies to our favorite eatery. Join us when you can."

Thea had observed the arrival of the mysterious Red Arrow and had little doubt as to who it was under the hood, despite the clearly disguised voice and face. She controlled her rising temper with some difficulty. _How many secrets does my brother have? Oooh, wait until I can get ahold of him! Making Roy keep this secret from me, that's pretty low. Despite any honorable reason Oliver might have, I'm really going to let him have it. _

Roy, on the other hand, wasn't sure it had been smart to accompany Diggle here. However, Diggle had argued they needed all hands on deck. Sara, unfortunately, had been called away to Central City by her mother on some family emergency. Roy was certainly surprised by the turn of events, with Malcolm showing up for the rescue. However, he was more taken aback by the looks Thea was directing at him. He had a sinking feeling she knew it was him behind the ski mask. He certainly hadn't expected her to find out about her brother being the Arrow. He didn't envy Oliver the tongue lashing he was certain his mentor was in for. Partly because he was also certain he himself was also going to get one. However he was going to delay it as long as possible. Letting Oliver take the blunt of it was only fair, right? Considering he was their leader. Leadership had to have _some_ privileges, right?

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Sitting across from his sister in the booth, Oliver took a deep breath and waited for Thea to begin. He decided he owed her that much, deciding where she wanted to start. Oliver was uncertain whether she would lead with Malcolm, the Arrow, or Roy.

"How long have you known about Malcolm being my father? When did their affair start? How could…..how could she?" Thea asked in an uncharacteristically quiet tone.

Felicity squirmed in her seat, suddenly uncomfortable with being present for such an intimate family moment. Without taking his eyes off his sister, Oliver slid his hand over Felicity's in her lap, gave it a quick squeeze and as quickly let go. Oliver knew Felicity didn't realize how much he had needed her support there with him for this discussion and wanted to let her know he wanted her there.

"Felicity found out about it when she was looking into some financial matters for the company."

"Felicity?" Thea turned to look at the petite blonde sitting next to her brother. There was even more to know about the blonde than Thea expected.

"Yes, I went to your mother, told her what I had found, and encouraged her to tell Oliver right away. She….she however refused to do so."

"What?" Anticipating Felicity's response, Thea said, "Don't defend her, Felicity. My mother….is quite the piece of work." Shaking her head, Thea said, "We will address that later. With her. So…"

"The day of your mother's mayoral announcement, your brother finally realized I'd been trying to hide something."

"Hey!" Oliver tried to scowl at Felicity, who laughed at him. "You weren't able to look at my mother. That's when I knew something was wrong."

"I was only trying to hide it from you for two days. You never noticed."

Oliver shook his head. "I noticed. There was just too much Arrow stuff going on to ask at the time."

Thea smiled at their antics, while quickly reviewing her memories of that day. "Oh. You did whisper something to Mom the day of her mayoral announcement."

"Yeah, I told her I knew. She knew I meant about her and Malcolm."

Pieces of the puzzle fell into place for Thea. She looked at her brother, and then at Felicity, and said, "That's what your fight with Mom has been all about. All this time."

"Yes."

"And Felicity told you…."

"Minutes before I had to introduce Mom," Oliver said softly.

"Let me say I didn't want to tell him then, but he refused to take no for an answer." Felicity protested.

"Yes, my brother can be quite stubborn."

"It runs in the family" Oliver said with a small smile.

Thea held up a hand and rolled her eyes. "So…was Mom ever going to tell me?"

"Yes. Mom and I had a talk about it last night. After Slade left us tied up in the mansion."

"What?"

"I don't know what Slade's intentions were, but he was invited over on the pretense of contributing to Mom's campaign. I don't think he expected me to be there."

Thea looked sheepish. "Sorry about that. I figured it was about time for you two to make up."

Oliver acknowledged her unnecessary apology with a nod. "She did tell me, Thea, it was only the one time. She'd just found out Dad had cheated on her, and Malcolm's wife recently died."

"Did they know….I wasn't Dad's?"

"Yes, because of your emergency at birth, Mom and Dad found out Dad's blood wasn't compatible with yours." Oliver searched out Thea's eyes. "Mom said it didn't matter to him." Looking at Thea, Oliver said, "You know in your heart, it's true. Dad loved both of us."

"Yes, I know," Thea said quietly while looking down at her hands in her lap.

"So, I walked in, and found my worst enemy, whom I thought I had killed on the island, alone with my mother in my family house. After I got over my shock, I asked Mom if I could speak to Slade alone, and that's when he surprised me and knocked me out."

Felicity interrupted, "I was wondering how Slade got the drop on you."

Oliver looked down his nose at the IT girl, who just giggled at the attempt of the Arrow glare. "He caught me off guard."

Felicity looked across at Thea. "It doesn't happen very often with your brother. It's why I'm surprised."

"You and me both," Oliver mumbled as he drank from his soda. "Anyhow, if I may continue, after I woke up, and found Mom and I tied up, Slade 'talked' to us for a while then left." Getting a guilty look in his eyes, he said, "It wasn't until later when I realized he had kidnapped you upon leaving the mansion."

"He teased the fact he'd visited you and Mom, but didn't tell me whether he had harmed you or not. I was scared for a moment, then I realized he would've said something if he had…if he had killed you or something."

Reaching across the table, Oliver took his sister's hand. "I'm so very sorry I got you involved in this."

"Oh, that reminds me. How do you and Slade know each other?"

"I wasn't exactly alone on the island."

"Yeah, Slade said that."

"He was an ex-spy who was there on an assignment…without going into details now, but I will in the future, let's say we fought a bad guy and won. We got to know a woman named Shado, and she and I…well…"

"I'm not a little girl, and I know you well, big brother, so…you and she became an item, let's say?"

"Yes, I being the selfish punk I was then didn't realize Slade had feelings for her to. Well, another bad guy came to the island, and he….captured us…and…"

"She was killed, and Slade blames you for it."

"Yeah."

At that moment, Diggle walked into the diner and joined them at their booth. "Did you and Red Arrow find anything?" Oliver asked them as they sat down.

"Nope. Wiped clean. Nothing left."

"Not even a secret, or not so secret message?" Felicity asked. Upon puzzled looks from the others, she said, "What? That's what the evil criminal always does in the movies."

Oliver sighed. "No. Slade is more forward."

Diggle looked at Thea. "How are you doing? Did these two answer all your questions?"

Thea gave him a grateful smile. "Yes, they have been surprisingly forthright. Oh, however, we aren't quite done yet." A small smile crossed her face. "So this Red Arrow…is he going to join us?"

Oliver cleared his throat. "No, not today. You will meet him some other time."

Thea looked at her brother. "I'm sure of it." Deciding to take pity on her brother as a look of fear momentarily crossed his face, she decided not to address that particular issue. Instead, she leaned across the table, captured her brother's hands in her own, waited until he looked up into her eyes, and asked, "Why do you do it?"

"Do what?"

Thea rolled her eyes and looked at Felicity. "Is he always so dense?"

"Oh yeah."

Turning on Felicity, Oliver said, "Hey!"

Felicity shrugged. "I only call them the way I see them." She popped a French fry into her mouth.

With a tug on his hand from Thea, he turned his attention back to his sister. "It's….complicated."

"Of course it is."

Oliver took a deep breath. "Dad didn't die on the boat."

"What?"

"He….he made it to the lifeboat. After 3 days of no rescue, he…he…killed himself so I could use all the food and water to stay alive."

Thea tried to pull her hands away but Oliver tightened his hold on them. "He told me to right his wrongs, and he died so I could live."

"Oh, Oliver."

"I…it was often the only thing which got me through the next five years. So when I returned, I had this plan. I had become this archer, and…assassin, and Father had left me a list of fellow conspirators of the Undertaking."

"The Undertaking? You mean Dad was in on it as well?"

"Yes, I found out he had changed his mind, and that's why…why Malcolm put the bomb on the yacht."

"Let me understand this. My biological father killed my…the man who I always considered to be my father."

"Robert Queen was always your father. Never forget that, Thea."

The waitress arrived to take Diggle's order. Thea sat back in her seat, silently eating her food, and watched the interactions among the members of the Arrow team. The thought crossed her mind she was watching her brother be the most relaxed she had ever seen him. Weird, because these people dealt with danger every day. Despite being scared as to what dangers may still exist for her family, Thea felt a strange sense of peace in being finally able to better understand her brother.

Even though she was certain more questions would come to mind, Thea was satisfied for the moment just to enjoy watching her brother interact with his friends. She herself needed a respite before she addressed the issue of Roy and his involvement in this whole Arrow thing. There will be time for that. She decided this group deserved the opportunity to finish their meal in comfortable camaraderie, enjoying the moments while they could. For now.

**AN: Thanks for reading and enjoying this chapter and this story. If you so desire to feed the Muse, please leave me a review. Happy the Arrow team have a moment to connect, for…Slade is still out there. Wonder what's going to happen? Stay tuned, and we shall see. **


	6. Chapter 6: The Arrival of Isabel

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I do not, just the original ideas.

**AN: Thank you ever so much for all the favs, follows and reviews. Sorry it took so long for this to appear. Hope you enjoy it, a little bit of everything in this chapter. **

Previously:

_The waitress chose that moment to walk over to take Diggle's and Roy's orders. Thea sat back in her seat, silently eating her food, and watched the goings on among the members of the Arrow team. The thought crossed her mind she was watching her brother be the most relaxed she had ever seen him. Weird, because these people dealt with danger every day. Despite being scared as to what dangers may still exist for her family, Thea felt a strange sense of peace being able to finally understand her brother. _

_Even though she was certain more questions would come to mind, Thea was satisfied for the moment just to enjoy watching her brother interact with his friends. The group was able to finish their meal in comfortable camaraderie, enjoying the moments while they could. _

Oliver couldn't believe all that had happened in such a short time. In two days' time, some of the biggest secrets he had ever kept from his family were now shared with his mother and sister. And the revelations went way better than he ever thought they would. However, it didn't take away from the fact his greatest enemy was back, hell bent on destroying him, and he had absolutely no idea how to beat him.

As he was leaving Big Belly Burger, Oliver's cell phone rang. Looking down, he gave a sigh upon seeing Isabel's name flash on the screen.

"Oh, my gosh, Oliver! Don't tell me you forgot to call and make some excuse as to why we both would be absent today?" Felicity asked, after looking over and seeing the name on the screen.

Oliver looked sheepish. "Yeah, I guess I had other things on my mind." Stopping, he answered, "Hi Isabel."

"Oliver, where are you? And do you know why Ms. Smoak isn't here? She didn't call in either with a reason for her absence."

Overhearing, Felicity cringed. She then made her "grr" face with her hands like paws. Oliver smothered a smile, nudged Felicity and said, "Um, well, I had a family emergency come up. And regarding Ms. Smoak, she called me last night to tell me she wasn't going to be in today. Sorry I forgot to communicate that to her supervisor."

"Well, it certainly sounds convenient. Some people would say, instead, the two of you are together playing hooky. Or something. Together."

"Isabel, I don't have time to discuss what possible gossip may be going around about me. Is there a point to this call?"

"Yes, there is. There has been an emergency board meeting called which will convene in thirty minutes. I highly suggest you get here as soon as possible."

Looking at his watch, Oliver said, "Who called it? What is it about?"

"Some of the members have brought up concerns that you no longer are fit to carry on as CEO."

"What?"

"I trust you will be able to make it to this particular meeting then, Oliver?"

"I will be right there." Swearing under his breath, Oliver turned to Felicity, whose eyes had widened and her mouth open slightly, as he disconnected the call.

"I don't know, Oliver, how something like this could have happened," Felicity said.

"We've always known she was out to get me out of there."

"Well, no matter what, how could they vote you out of the position? It is your family's business, after all."

"If there's a way, Isabel is hell-bent on finding it. Let's hurry, we got to stop her."

Felicity and Oliver rushed into the Queen Consolidated building and up to the executive offices. After stopping at his office for a few files, they rushed into the conference room, where Isabel was just finishing her presentation. Five men and three women were seated around the table facing Isabel, but all turned to observe the two late-comers enter the room.

"Well, look who decided to make it. Mr. Queen, you have arrived just in time to make your presentation as to why you should remain as CEO."

Oliver exchanged looks with Felicity, who gave him a little smile and nod. He straightened his tie as he approached the podium at the head of the conference table.

"I'm sure Ms. Rochev has made a very compelling case against my continued tenure as CEO of Queen Consolidated. However, I am confident I can convince you otherwise."

Felicity sat back in her chair, content to watch Oliver work his Queen magic. She was prepared to step in, if necessary, with facts or arguments, but she was confident Oliver had it under control.

And she was correct. Even she was pleasantly surprised by the quality of arguments Oliver had pulled out at the last minute, considering the lack of preparation they indeed had. She only had to step in a few times with actual numbers. When he finished, Mr. Williams, the senior member, escorted them out of the room so the board could take a vote. As they left the room with Isabel, Felicity couldn't help but exchange icy glares with Isabel.

"I suppose you both think you have this," Isabel said, her finely polished lips curving upwards into a thin smile.

"Of course we do, why wouldn't we? Oliver is the best person to run this company, and you know it." Felicity walked away to the couch at the end of the hall and sat down.

Isabel walked over to her and fixed her with a look of pity. "You poor deluded girl. Oliver has as much business sense as a toad. I'm finally able to take over this company."

Felicity was about to make another retort, when Oliver grabbed her by the forearm and slightly shook his head. Felicity gave a grimace but remained silent. And remained quiet while they waited.

They didn't have to wait long. After fifteen minutes, the conference room door opened, and Mr. Williams, stuck his head out. "We have reached a decision. You can come back now."

Mr. Williams waited until the three entered the room and sat down. "It was a rather close vote, but quite decided. By a small majority, it has been determined we will retain Mr. Queen as CEO of the company. Under the provision there be no further reason for another vote to be called for in the future."

Isabel stood up, and began to stutter. "Wha….What happened?" She looked around the table, attempting to gauge the reactions of the various individuals.

"I am sorry, Ms. Rochev, but we feel your evidence is questionable regarding your concerns of Mr. Queen's qualifications as CEO," Mr. Williams said. "Because we felt your concerns have no merit, we don't feel a change is necessary at this time."

Mr. Williams then proceeded to end the meeting, and Oliver and Felicity proceeded to observe the members leave. Some stopped to shake Oliver's hand and make small talk, while others rushed out, not making eye contact with either Oliver or Isabel.

When no other people were left in the room, Isabel turned in anger towards Oliver. "You have the most dumb luck of anyone I know, Mr. Queen. Mark my words. You will regret this."

"What? For standing up for my family legacy? For being the right person for CEO, despite my lack of experience?"

Rolling her eyes, Isabel turned her attention onto Felicity. "And the fact that she's here helping you is just as much a travesty." She spun quickly on her heels and exited the room.

Felicity stared after her, her mouth in a small 'O'. "What is up with her? Why is she suddenly particularly hell-bent on showing us her claws now?"

Oliver pondered Felicity's questions and shook his head. "I'm not sure. However, since we are here, I suppose we better get some work done, at our _day_ job."

Felicity nodded, even though she was exhausted. "I suppose we should see if Isabel left any ticking bombs on her way out."

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~

After spending several surprisingly productive hours at Queen Consolidated, Oliver and Felicity made their way to the lair for some well-needed strategy planning. Felicity took her place behind her computers, and began checking on her scans of facial recognition searching for Slade, as well as traffic cameras for any signs of the vehicles Slade had used. Even though there was very little chance Slade was continuing to use his original vehicle, she was still following every lead, no matter how minuscule. She was also able to hack into the traffic cams around the building they were held this morning, and got a license plate number off of that vehicle as well.

Oliver was fashioning some arrowheads, in an attempt to clear his head and brainstorm for ideas, when he was startled out of his reflections by a yelp from Felicity.

"I got him! I actually got him, Oliver."

Looking over her shoulder, Oliver viewed the video from a traffic cam showing a vehicle matching the plates from this morning pull into a warehouse.

"Seems again too easy, though, on second thought." Felicity looked up at Oliver, worrying her lower lip.

Oliver looked down, pinching the bridge of his nose. Sighing, he said, "I know we haven't had much luck with all of this, but…I just can't not examine every lead."

"What lead is that?" Diggle arrived, with bags of Chinese take-out which he tossed casually onto the table and walked over to the screen.

Looking at the screen, Diggle agreed. "Yeah, probably too easy, but then again, we never know. Dillinger did get caught at the movie theater, you know."

Leaning backwards in her chair to grab a spring roll from the nearby table, Felicity said with a sigh, "I suppose this means we eat in the car."

Turning quickly and heading towards the changing room, Oliver said, "Yep, let's roll."

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~

Felicity waited in the van, watching the heat signatures given off by her two teammates. She still hadn't been convinced this wasn't a trap, but knew Oliver had to be certain. Because of where the building had been located, she was able to convince Oliver as to the wisdom of bringing her along to provide tech at the location instead of at the lair.

Suddenly her computer gave off an alarm, and she looked at the screen only to see five heat signatures approach Oliver and Digg. Before she could react, the van door was ripped off its hinges and Felicity found herself staring at Isabel Rochef. Isabel grabbed Felicity by the arm and dragged her out of the van. Before she could find her footing, Felicity was dragged into the building by Isabel.

"Let go of me, Isabitch!" Felicity was surprised at the strength of the frail-looking woman. She was unable to free herself from the iron grip of the monster beside her as she was dragged into an inner room.

"Oooh, I can not wait until I can give that mouth of yours a slap you'll still feel next Tuesday." Isabel said as she threw Felicity down onto the floor.

Felicity attempted to stand up, but before she could get to her feet she found herself staring at a pair of black boots in her line of vision. She followed the boots and up the long legs to find herself staring into the eyes of Slade Wilson. He grabbed her by both upper arms, dragged her to a chair, and threw her down. He then tied her arms behind her back, and to the chair, as well as her ankles to the chair legs. He backed away, and Felicity looked to her side. Oliver and Digg were sitting in two other chairs, tied up in similar ways. Only they weren't conscious. Before she could stop herself, a cry escaped her lips, and Slade and Isabel shared a grin.

"Don't worry, they're only knocked out," Slade smirked. "For now."

"I should've known she was in cahoots with you," Felicity said, nodding her head at Isabel.

"Did you ever come up with an idea all on your own?" Isabel asked with a smirk.

"Girls, girls. There will be time for a fight later. Now, I must wake up the hero and start the floor show." Slade got a pail of water from one of his goons and dumped it over Oliver. Oliver startled awake, choking on some of the water. He shook his head, and looked around him. Slade grabbed him by the back of his head, forcing Oliver to look up at him.

"Hello, Oliver. I hear you've been looking for me."

Oliver glared at his old friend. "You've been taunting me long enough, Slade! What is it you want?"

Slade shook his head slowly. "I told you two days ago. All that you have, all you love, I will take away." He smiled and said, "I just so love this game I've been playing with you. Slow, agonizing torture is surely the way to go."

Felicity looked back and forth between the two men. Slade was confident, while Oliver continued to glare at Slade. She struggled against her bonds, finding again they were too tight to escape. Slade looked over at Felicity and smiled at her attempts. "Don't bother, sweetheart, no way would you ever be able to get out of those ropes."

Releasing Oliver and walking towards Felicity, Slade suddenly fixed a most loathsome smile upon her. Oliver didn't like the look at all, and got the most sinister foreboding from it. Slade pulled out a gun and pointed it at Felicity's temple.

"If you'd rather, Oliver, I could end this right now and kill both her and Mr. Diggle without further delay."

Felicity froze, not daring to even breathe. She bit her lip to prevent any stupid babble from escaping. She met Oliver's eyes and shook her head minimally, trying to pretend to be braver than she was feeling. She had no idea what the mad man would do next. She hoped Oliver had some idea.

"I'd rather you take a long walk on a short pier, or island, whichever you prefer, but I know that ain't happening."

"You're so correct, Oliver. Really wish your friend Merlyn hadn't interrupted us before. It would have been very interesting to see who you would've chosen. This young lady or your sister."

The sound of Isabel tapping her foot interrupted them. "Slade, I don't know about everyone else, but I'm getting bored. Why don't you just put me out of my misery and indeed shoot Ms. Smoak once and for all."

"Patience, Isabel, patience. Do you have the papers?"

"What papers, Slade?" Oliver asked.

"What do you think? Papers signing over the control of Queen Consolidated over to Isabel."

"Now why would I sign something like that?"

Slade slowly placed his hand with the gun in his pocket and brought out a knife instead. Grabbing her ponytail, Slade yanked Felicity's head up. Felicity, unprepared, gave out a small shriek. Slade then placed a knife millimeters away from Felicity's throat. "What do you think, Oliver? Is her life worth your family's legacy?"

**AN: Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you think. I'd appreciate it!**


	7. Chapter 7: Time For Strategy

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I do not, just the original ideas.

**AN: So sorry this took so long for me to get out. The muse began to worry too much about "the pressure". Ha. Thank you for all your favs, follows, and reviews. Thanks to all guest reviewers as well, especially Sumana and Dreaming, for leaving your names. ****All of you, please enjoy this next chapter. **

Previously:

"_What papers, Slade?" Oliver asked._

"_What do you think? Papers signing over the control of Queen __Consolidated__ over to Isabel."_

"_Now why would I sign something like that?"_

_Grabbing her ponytail, Slade yanked Felicity's head up. Felicity, unprepared, gave out a small shriek. Slade then placed a knife millimeters away from Felicity's throat. "What do you think, Oliver? Is her life worth your family's legacy?"_

Felicity's eyes widened as she recognized what was happening. She shook her head slightly, but didn't dare utter a word. The knife was just too close to her jugular. She met Oliver's eyes with a look of determination however.

"How legal would all this be, actually?" Oliver asked, forcing a casual tone into his voice he most certainly wasn't feeling.

Isabel fixed Oliver with a condescending gaze. "Really Oliver? You don't think I'd go through with all of this if it wouldn't be legal? You convinced the board to keep you in the position, so I persuaded Slade to try it this way instead." Smirking at the panicking form of Felicity, she said, "This has been way more fun to do."

Oliver looked at Diggle, who had been following the exchange quietly. Diggle shrugged slightly, as if to indicate he didn't know what to say.

"Come on, Oliver, you know you have no choice," Slade said.

"How am I to sign with my hands tied?"

Isabel slowly approached Oliver, pulled out a knife quickly and cut the rope binding Oliver's wrists. Oliver slowly brought his hands to his lap, rubbed his wrists and flexed his fingers. Isabel drew Oliver's attention to Slade and Felicity with her eyes, then handed the papers and pen to him. Oliver accepted them with a sigh, and read them over quickly. Meeting Felicity's eyes, Oliver nodded. As Slade tightened his grip on Felicity, eliciting another small shriek from her, Oliver's lips pursed into a small thin line as he signed the papers. With a determined look, Oliver handed the papers back to Isabel, who looked at the signatures and smiled.

Slade released Felicity suddenly, resulting in her losing her balance and sitting down with a loud thump. "I'd like to thank you for your cooperation. That's all we require from you… today." Slade smiled at Isabel as she reached his side. "Now that we've gotten Isabel's heart desire, we'll take our leave. But never fear, Oliver, you'll be hearing from us." Slade made a big show in leaving the knife behind on the table next to Felicity.

Team Arrow watched as Slade and Isabel left. As soon as the door closed behind them, Felicity said, "I'm sorry, Oliver."

"Never a choice, Felicity, never a choice. I'm not even sure if it'll hold up in court." Oliver leaned down and untied the rope binding his feet.

"Oliver, it may be just another distraction they're using against you to torture you," Diggle said.

"If only we would get two seconds to strategize so we can plan an offense, instead of always being on the defensive," Oliver said softly. "How can the man have me tied up four times in three days and yet not have harmed me yet?" He walked over to Felicity, picked up the discarded knife, and cut her bonds quickly. He then walked over to Diggle and did the same.

"Part of his sick plan, Oliver. How can he be so sick anyway?" Felicity asked. "And to think Isabitch has been his partner all along." She shivered. "And she has that Mirakuru in her."

Oliver shook himself. "Say what?"

"Oh. Yeah. You should have seen her rip the door off the van."

"Our van? She ripped the door off our van?" Diggle asked.

Oliver shook his head. "I can't believe Slade injected her with the Mirakuru."

"Now there are two of them," Diggle said.

Felicity spoke up, "We do have Roy."

Diggle murmured, "Not exactly an advantage."

"Diggle!" Felicity cried. "Be nice."

"Come on. We need to get back to the mansion, sit down and try to get a handle on all of this," Oliver said, returning to business.

"Why the mansion?"

Oliver pursed his lips together, took a breath, and said, "I have to talk to my mother and sister. Maybe they'll have some ideas as well."

"Is it smart, involving them so much in this? No offense, man, but do you think they're ready for that?" Diggle asked, rubbing his chin in thought.

"Things are happening so fast, Dig, I need to get ahead of this. And, I have to get my mother's input regarding the company."

"Not to bring up a possibly sore subject, but we also need to tell Thea about Roy," Felicity reminded Oliver in a gentle voice

Oliver rolled his eyes, and asked, "Do I gotta?"

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Walking into his childhood home with his two best friends involved in his new mission gave Oliver the courage to face his family within. He led his team to the living room, where his mother and sister were sitting on the couch. Observing their entrance, Moira stood up and made her way over to her son.

"Oliver, I was beginning to wonder if I was ever going to see you again."

Oliver walked over and gave his mother a kiss on the cheek. "Yes, Mom, it has been a surprisingly eventful couple of days."

Moira shot a pointed look towards her daughter sitting demurely on the couch, her legs underneath her. "So I hear."

Oliver sighed heavily. Now he will have to handle two Queen women mad at him. Catching Felicity's eye, he felt better when she gave him an encouraging smile and nod. He looked over at Diggle, sitting down in an armchair, who also gave him an encouraging, but solemn, nod as well.

"Well, I assume, Mom, Thea's filled you in completely on what had happened with her?"

"Yes, I do find it interesting you never let me know that night she was in danger?"

"I didn't want to worry you at first, when I left, until I knew for certain Thea was in danger. Then, it went all too fast and I wasn't able to catch you up."

"So, where have you been now? From the looks of you three, I gather something else happened. Who is this Slade, and why does he keep doing this to you, Oliver?"

Oliver took a breath, and began. "We thought we had Slade, but it ended up being another trap. He threatened to kill Felicity, and…" Oliver looked down at his feet, then up at his mother. "They demanded I sign over the company to…to Isabel."

"What!" his mother stood up in shock. "I don't know what to say, Oliver?"

"I was hoping you'd say there was some way out of this mess. I'm sorry, Mom. I…there wasn't much I could do."

Moira looked at Felicity, who felt the stare of an angry matriarch.

"If it makes any difference, your son was able to prevent the take-over Isabel attempted to carry off this afternoon," Felicity offered.

Moira turned her icy glare back to Oliver. "Is that so, Oliver?"

"Yes, Isabel had gone to the board in an attempt to get them to vote me out, and she failed."

"What's the board going to think about you just signing over the company to her especially in such a short time? Are you going to say she had threatened you?"

"It would only be my word against hers. I was hoping you'd have an idea what we can do."

"I think I better get Walter on the phone. He'll be able to assist us with this." Moira walked out of the room, head high.

Thea watched her mother leave the room. She shook her head. "Well, this gives us a chance to talk. So, spill. How long has Roy been working with you?"

Oliver looked at his sister, recognizing the anger rolling off of her. "I'm sorry, Thea. I was going to tell you."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I was just trying to…."

"Protect me? Yeah, thanks. How safe am I when both my brother and my boyfriend are chasing dangerous criminals?" Giving her brother a particularly evil look, she said, "Not to mention being kidnapped and threatened by a most dangerous man."

"Yeah, I apologized for that."

"Oliver, I was only teasing you. You can't help what a person does. It's not your fault some psycho comes after us."

"We've been trying to work on his overdeveloped guilt complex," Diggle said.

"Yeah, I can see how well it's working out," Thea said with a smirk. "But why didn't you tell me this morning?"

Oliver had the decency to look sheepish. "I…I was in shock. And I wanted to get out of that place."

"And later, at the restaurant?"

"We were getting along so well, I didn't want to spoil it for a little while."

Thea cocked her head sideways at her brother, reminding Oliver of the look Felicity had first given him. He caught Felicity's eye, who smiled, knowing he was remembering their first meeting. She told Thea, "Your brother does have some difficulty with confrontation."

"Very much aware. So…." Thea was nothing if not persistent. "How long has Roy been part of Team Arrow?"

"We don't call it that," Oliver said in a grumpy voice.

"I do," Felicity said with a bright smile. At Oliver's glare, she added quickly, "Sometimes." Receiving a glare from Thea, Felicity said, "For a few months. Since he was injected with Mirakuru."

"Mirakuru?"

Felicity exchanged a look with Oliver. As a look crossed Oliver's face his teammates knew very well, Diggle said, "You better tell her, man."

"Tell me what? How many secrets do you guys have anyway?"

Oliver had the decency to look sheepish. "Like I said, Thea, for five years all I could do was keep secrets in order to simply survive. I've had to start from square one in becoming a person again."

"It wasn't that bad, was it? To make you feel so...isolated?"

Diggle decided to jump in. "Yes, Thea, it was that bad."

Thea looked at her brother and decided to shelf the topic of his isolation for another time. She still needed answers about Roy. "What's mirakuru?"

"Basically a serum able to make a person super strong."

"Super strong?"

"For want of a better description, like Superman strong," Felicity supplied.

"You and your comic book shows," Oliver said with a sigh.

"You mean Roy can actually lift a...truck or something like that?"

Felicity looked at the two men, suddenly unsure as to exactly how strong Roy was. Oliver came to her rescue. "Not sure, exactly, as it's all still relatively new for us. And the problem is Roy's trying to get used to it himself."

"So the phrase not knowing his own strength really does apply to him?" Thea asked, her voice trembling slightly even though she attempted to keep it light.

Felicity smiled at Thea, acknowledging her attempt at a joke.

Thea looked at the three members of Team Arrow. "Are there more secrets I don't know?"

Before Oliver could speak, Felicity said, "Knowing your brother, yes. But don't be offended. There are things Dig and I don't know yet either."

Oliver opened his mouth to offer a retort, but changed his mind and closed his mouth. "All I can say, to all of you, is that….I'm a work in progress. But, I resolve to be better. It'll take some time, though."

Thea smiled at her brother and marveled again at the changes those five years gone had brought about within her brother. It will certainly take some getting used to, this new side of her brother. But she liked the thought there would be no more secrets between them.

"So, Roy does a good job helping you out then?"

A laugh escaped from Diggle's lips, but turned into a cough as Thea looked at him. "Why do you react like that, Mr. Diggle?"

"Don't get me wrong, Thea, but Roy….he still has a lot to learn."

"Don't I know it!" Thea said with a shake of her head and a wink at Felicity. Felicity giggled into her hand.

"Thea, are we good, for now? We really need to start discussing what we are going to do about Slade," her brother interrupted in a slightly deeper voice.

Thea considered her brother. "I suppose so. And while 'we' are discussing it, is there anything I can do to help?"

Oliver swallowed the reply he wanted so desperately to make, saying in no way, shape or form Thea was going to help them out. But he knew keeping his little sister out of Arrow business was no longer possible, and he better start accepting that fact. And quick.

**AN: Who would've thought this would turn into a story exploring Oliver's psyche and relationships as much as an action story? Hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it. I do appreciate all the feedback, hope you come back for the next chapter. **


	8. Chapter 8: Coming Up with a New Plan

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I do not, just the original ideas.

**AN: Boy, sorry this took way too long. My muse absolutely left this story. I just don't know what to do with her. Sigh. Anyway, we finally got something together. I apologize if it doesn't hold up to the promise of earlier chapters. Probably the only thing I have in common with Stephen King, able to write great beginnings, not so great endings. Oh well…..I think I did come up with some interesting tidbits however. **

Previously:

_"Thea, are we good, for now? We really need to start discussing what we are going to do about Slade," her brother interrupted in a slightly deeper voice. _

_Thea considered her brother. "I suppose so. And while 'we' are discussing it, is there anything I can do_ _to help?"_

_Oliver swallowed the reply he wanted so desperately to make, saying in no way, shape or form Thea was going to help them out. But he knew keeping his little sister out of Arrow business was no longer possible, and he better start accepting that fact. And quick. _

Roy chose that moment to enter the room. "Did I hear my name mentioned a little while ago?" Stopping he looked at Thea. "Oh." His cocky smile disappeared as he met Thea's stormy gaze.

"Yes, I know, Roy. And yes, we're going to have quite the discussion later. However now, we're going to help my brother come up with a plan to defeat this slime ball Slade."

Roy had the decency to look sheepish. He snuck a glance at Oliver, who only glared at him and nodded toward the remaining empty seat. Roy, with slouched shoulders, made his way over to it and sat down.

Sighing, Oliver looked at the group assembled before him. "Does anyone have any ideas where to start? For once in my life I'm fresh out of ideas."

"I think we do need to come up with a plan or two to outsmart Slade. But, since he seems to know you so well, perhaps...perhaps we need to let him think he's out smarting you one last time. Then turn the trap on him," Felicity said.

"Interesting idea, Felicity. I suppose you don't have a few ideas on how we can accomplish this?" Diggle said with a smile.

Felicity leaned back into her chair and cocked her head. "That's why I keep you guys around. So you can actually instigate my nefarious schemes."

"Seriously, though, it's a good idea." Oliver jumped to his feet and began to pace. Finger to chin, he pondered the idea. "I do like us brainstorming this from several different angles."

"That way we are better prepared," Diggle said.

Moira Queen decided to make her appearance at this moment. Taking in the new visitors, she said, "Quite the crowd, Oliver. Didn't realize so many knew your secret."

"I have to admit, it has almost doubled now since Slade's in town."

Moira walked to the chair vacated by Diggle and sat down. She crossed her legs slowly, placed her hands on her lap, and looked at her son in the familiar regal way Oliver has known all his life. "You will be pleased to know, Oliver, Walter was able to undo the mess you allowed to happen."

Oliver heard the intake of air indicating Felicity was about to say something. He touched her arm, pleading silently for her not to say something and said to Moira, "Mother, I am sorry."

Moira gave a small shrug of her shoulders. "That may have come out wrong, I have to admit. I know you could do nothing else at the time. I am simply unnerved with all that has happened." Her lips pursed into tight little line. "I could never stand Isabel."

Moira looked at her son's companions. "I suppose I better leave all of you to your planning. I will just say I appreciate all the assistance you give my son." She gracefully rose, brushed imaginary creases out of her skirt, and smiled at Oliver. "If you need me, I will be in my study."

Oliver watched his mother leave then looked at his teammates. After thinking a moment, he said, "Well, I think perhaps we should go to QC. Check out things. Isabel must have known we would be able to turn this back."

"So...they were probably after something they needed the CEO's authority to get," Felicity said slowly, as if wondering why they hadn't thought of it before. She grabbed her purse and stood up. "What are we waiting for? Let's go!"

"Roy, come with me. Let's go talk with Mom and make sure she doesn't have anything useful for us," Thea said, also standing up. "And then we'll join you at QC. Unless something else comes up."

Oliver smiled his appreciation. "Thanks, Thea. That's a good idea. Yeah, let's all stay in touch." Looking at Diggle and Felicity, he said, "Let's go indeed."

When they arrived at their offices, Felicity immediately headed to her computers. As her fingers flew, Dig and Oliver stood behind her, trying to keep track of what she was doing.

"Do you think they had time to do something?" Dig asked.

"I'm not sure. I don't have any idea," Oliver said.

"Did you know QC Applied Science department had a building on the outskirts of the city? One which hasn't been used for several months."

"Why was it closed?"

Felicity's fingers flew, and she gasped. "Oh, Isabel ordered all operations to cease, and she moved most of them to the department in town." She checked another screen. "But, utilities show continued usage over the past months. Despite supposedly closing the department."

Diggle looked at Oliver. "Do you think Slade is doing something there?"

"Yeah. Maybe revenge against me wasn't his only reason for coming to Starling."

A sudden yelp from Felicity made both men turn and look at her. "What's the matter, Felicity?" Oliver said.

"Last night, while we were with Slade and Isabel at the warehouse, a prison bus was stopped during a jail transfer. All guards were killed. No prisoners are accounted for as yet."

"Why didn't we hear about this before?"

"Sorry, it didn't come across the main police scanner, and it was just on the news now."

"Do you think this is also connected, Oliver?"

"I don't know."

A yawn escaped Felicity's bright pink lips, despite her attempted to hide it.

"Ok, we need sleep. Dig will take you home, Felicity. I'm going to crash here for a few hours. I'll let Roy and Thea know to stay at the mansion for now and meet us at the Lair later."

"Oh no, buddy. I know you better than that. You need to go home as well."

"Felicity, no. I promise I'll get more sleep here than at the mansion."

Felicity exchanged looks with Diggle and shrugged her slim shoulders. "I guess I'm too tired to try and argue with you, Bud. Let's go, Digg before I fall asleep on my feet."

Diggle smiled. "Okay, Oliver, we'll be back at 6pm."

Oliver watched as his teammates climbed up the stairs, and heard the door shut behind them, with the lock clicking into place. Looking around his haven, Oliver allowed a moment of despair to descend upon him. Heart heavy, he went over to the cot he had brought in a year ago and sat down on the edge. His head in his hands, arms resting on his upper legs, Oliver allowed a moment of self-recrimination. How could he bring such danger to his loved ones, to his own city? If Slade was planning something requiring an entire building, it went beyond simple revenge against Oliver. Oliver shook his head, despairing the lack of ideas currently in his mind. He laid down and attempted to calm his restless mind.

Suddenly an unfamiliar noise occurred. Looking up Oliver attempted to place it, all of his senses now on alert. He stood up, looking around and failed to see anything unusual. As he took a step forward, he felt a sudden pick in his neck. _Oh crap, not again._ Darkness descended on him once more.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Pain was the first thing he was aware of. Pain to his midsection, to his head. It felt like someone had used his body like a battering ram. Or a football. Again. Barely aware, but nevertheless by habit, he reviewed his body for any signs of possible injuries. He was relieved to sense nothing too severe. Yet. He then listened for any clues as to what he would find in the environment once he opened his eyes.

"Yes, Kid, I know you're awake. And yes, you again are my guest. This time, it will be permanently."

Opening his eyes, Oliver met Slade's stare with a cold one of his own. "What? No more games?"

Slade's lips formed a small, tight smile. "Funny. No, just a different type of games. You'll remember them. The ones we did on the island."

Oliver watched Slade walk over to a table. He took a moment to scan the environment. He was in a warehouse, with his arms extended above his head chained to two posts. Of course, similar to what he was on the Amazo, powerless against Slade once again. On the table, were all sorts of familiar-looking objects. Ones he often saw in his nightmares. Whips, chains, knives, a generator...

"Oh, I see. You do remember." Slade's voice echoed in his head. "I remember you especially liked the electricity."

"Funny guy, aren't you, Slade?"

The punch came out of nowhere, connecting with his midsection and sent Oliver's body swaying back and forth. Oliver always marveled how such a large man could move so quickly and quietly. Several more quick jabs followed. Oliver attempted to regain his breath as Slade pulled away, watching Oliver continue to sway. He smiled at Oliver as he turned to hook up the generator.

Oliver braced himself for the pain.

~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~OQ~~

Diggle had gone home after dropping Felicity off at her home. Surprisingly, he was able to get a decent amount of rest when he woke up at 5pm. He took a quick shower and left to pick up Felicity.

He smiled as the young woman skipped out of her house, her blonde ponytail bouncing back and forth, and jumped into the car. She returned his smile. "You look like you got some rest," Felicity said.

"I did. You look like you did too."

"I didn't think I would, but fell asleep right away. So, let's get back to the foundry. We got one master criminal and his witchy sidekick to catch."

Diggle smiled. "I called Roy. He and Thea are meeting us there." As he pulled out into the road, he asked "Have you heard from Oliver?"

"No I haven't. I'm surprised. He must have actually rested as well."

Suddenly Diggle got a twinge of discomfort. _Yeah, it's definitely not Oliver not to at least text us a few times with random ideas, even though we're supposed to be resting. _

Once they reached the foundry, Diggle got out and scanned the environment. Nothing appeared to be wrong. Until they got to the back door. Which was torn off its hinges and leaning against the door frame.

Felicity shot Diggle a wide-eyed look. "OMG, Diggle! What is this?"

"Slade."

Diggle pulled his gun, held it in position, and motioned Felicity to stay behind him. He led them down the stairs, watching and listening for anything out of the ordinary. Felicity also scanned the foundry, and didn't like what she saw. No Oliver. The cot on which he would've been resting was tipped over.

Felicity ran down the rest of the stairs, pushing past Diggle. She covered the ground floor, looking for any signs of Oliver. Returning to the bottom of the stairs, where Diggle had stayed watching her frenzied activity, she looked up at Diggle with sad eyes. "He's not here."

"No note, no nothing, huh?"

Felicity went to her computers and began a scan of the foundry security tapes. She looked over her entire desk, checking for any clue. Nothing. Returning to her scan, she grunted in disappointment. "Nothing. Some kind of mishap happened. They stopped recording shortly after we left."

Diggle grunted also in disgust. "That most likely means he nabbed Oliver shortly after we left."

"He was waiting for us to leave?"

"Yep, most likely."

"Do you think he was following us all the time?"

"I don't know. It probably doesn't matter. What matters is finding Oliver."

"Where do we start looking? We have no other clue but that warehouse."

"I wish we could've checked it out sooner, but we were just too tired. It would've been unsafe for us."

"Don't kick yourself, Diggle. You're correct. But…what should we do?"

"Hey guys, are you down here?" Thea's voice came bouncing down the stairs.

"Yes, Thea, we're here." Felicity turned to watch Thea and Roy reach the bottom of the stairs.

"What's wrong? Where's Oliver?" Roy asked.

"We don't know. We think…we think Slade was here."

"Yeah, we wondered about the condition of the door. What you think, Slade tear it off the hinges?"

Diggle shook his head. "Yeah, that's what we think."

"What are we going to do now?"

Diggle began to pace, fingering his chin in thought. "I'm not sure whether they would be holding Oliver in the warehouse. For some reason, I don't think so. But we have no clues right now as to where he could be."

"I suppose his tracking device has been deactivated?" Roy asked.

Thea had been following the conversation in silence. "Tracking device?" she asked in a soft tone, almost to herself.

Roy said, "I'll explain later."

Felicity answered, "Yeah, no signal. Of course Slade would know what to look for. I have facial recognition scans running, but nothing yet."

"So, our best bet is to go to this warehouse? What warehouse is it exactly?" Thea asked.

Diggle said, "Oh yeah, we haven't updated you and Roy. This afternoon Felicity found a warehouse QC owns that Isabel had closed six months ago. Supposedly it was closed, but electricity and other utilities have been used in higher quantities than previous months."

"So what do you think he is doing?"

"Something involving numerous escaped prisoners."

"What?"

Felicity spoke up. "We also found out a bus of prisoners being transported was apparently stopped, taken over, and the guards killed. No other news so far, no prisoners accounted for as yet."

Thea considered the information. "What does this all mean?"

"We don't know yet. And now, without Oliver…we are basically going in blind."

"Dig, you agree we still need to go tonight and check it out, don't you?" Felicity asked.

"Yes, of course. Meanwhile, you continue to see if you can locate possible locations for Oliver, if he isn't at that warehouse. Thea, why don't you stay here with Felicity, and help her here."

The Arrow team, minus their leader, prepared to go out. Felicity swallowed her fear and concern. She hated the reconnaissance missions the most, when they had little or no idea what to expect, despite her best efforts. She reminded herself of their past successes, and that Oliver was counting on them. Hopefully, by morning, they'll have captured Slade and rescued Oliver.

**AN: At the end of another chapter. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it. If you like, please leave a review. It is much appreciated. **


	9. Chapter 9: Another talk with Slade

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I do not, just the original ideas.

**AN: Thank you for returning to my little story. I hope you like this next chapter. We are getting closer to the end, I believe. I thank you for all the reviews, follows and favs. It is always so appreciated. **

Previously:

_"Dig, you agree we still need to go tonight and check it out, don't you?" Felicity asked. _

_"__Yes, of course. Meanwhile, you continue to see if you can locate possible locations for Oliver, if he isn't at that warehouse. Thea, why don't you stay here with Felicity, and help her here."_

_The Arrow team, minus their leader, prepared to go out. Felicity swallowed her fear and concern. She hated the reconnaissance missions the most, when they had little or no idea what to expect, despite her best efforts. She reminded herself of their past successes, and that Oliver was counting on them. Hopefully, by morning, they'll have captured Slade and rescued Oliver. _

"Hey guys, what's happening? Sorry I've been gone," Sara's voice preceded her appearance down the stairs. Her feet pounded on the stairs as she rushed to get an answer.

"Oh, Sara, I'm glad you're back!" Felicity said. "You will not believe it."

"I gather Slade made an appearance here, from the looks of the outside door." At Dig's disapproving look she said, "Hey, I looked and listened before I walked down here. Clearly there was no danger, now, from what I heard."

Dig acknowledged her comment with a small smile and nod that disappeared just as quickly. "Yes, Slade was indeed here. And he took Oliver."

"What? How'd that happen?"

"We're not sure how Slade caught Oliver unawares."

"Probably shows how stressed Oliver has been, if Slade was able to get the jump on him. Why didn't you call me?"

"We did. Your phone wouldn't pick up. You must have been in a dead zone," Felicity explained.

"Oh, I must've been in the airport at the time." Sara took in Roy's and Digg's outfits as they joined the women. "What are you about to do anyway?" She looked past Felicity and took a step back, startled at seeing someone not belonging in their secret hideout.

"Hello, Thea." Looking at Felicity, Sara raised an eyebrow. "So...I gather, Oliver told her everything?"

"Yep, everything. Even about Roy."

"But he forgot to tell me about you, Sara." Thea continued to look at the new arrival. "You too? You also help Ollie?"

"Yes, we had somewhat similar experiences while we were gone."

Diggle interrupted. "Hey, let's catch up in the van. We better go. Felicity, when you find out more information, let us know."

"Copy that," Felicity said with a smile as she swiveled her office chair around and Sara left to get changed.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

"Dig, I finally was able to hack into the security system. I see nineteen heat signatures in the building."

"Where are they located?" Diggle asked as he continued to look through his binoculars. No other guards had been noted as yet, but Diggle was certain there had to be some guarding the perimeter.

"They're mostly gathered in a large room near the back of the building."

"Are any of them looking like they're being held against their will?" Roy asked.

"No, all the signatures are moving around freely," Felicity said.

Roy was the first to observe movement outside. "Hey, looks like they're just guarding the back. Two guards have now appeared behind the building."

Diggle turned his gaze to the back of the building. "Perhaps they have video surveillance for the front. Felicity, any luck in locating any?"

"Not yet."

Sara, being updated with the mission in the van, asked as she also looked through binoculars, "So what's the game plan?"

"Well, going on the assumption no one has been killed since they joined Slade's company, there were twenty prisoners taken."

"But that only makes twenty-one signatures total," Felicity said, worry clearly in her voice.

"We weren't sure whether they were holding Oliver here. Guess we were right. Maybe Isabel is in there with the others, while Slade is elsewhere with Oliver."

"I say we sit tight and observe. Perhaps Felicity will track down Oliver or be able to hack into whatever surveillance system they have inside the building," Diggle said.

"Yep, I've been trying to do both, Dig. No luck as yet."

Sara sighed. "I guess we are in for a little stake-out."

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~

Previously:

_"__Oh, I see. You do remember." Slade's voice echoed in his head. "I remember you especially liked the electricity."_

_"__Funny guy, aren't you, Slade?"_

_The punch came out of nowhere, connecting with his midsection and sent Oliver's body swaying back and forth. Several more quick jabs followed. Oliver attempted to regain his breath as Slade pulled away, watching Oliver continue to sway. He smiled at Oliver as he turned to hook up the generator. _

_Oliver braced himself for the pain. _

Slade shocked him enough times to bring Oliver to the edge of unconsciousness. Just as the blessed relief of unawareness was promised, Oliver was startled awake by the burn of a whip. Two more lashes followed before Slade spoke again. The tearing of his flesh with each slice of the whip brought on a different type of pain.

"How you're doing, kid? I thought I almost lost you there for a moment." Slade was now standing in front of him, gloating.

Oliver struggled to raise his head. His vision blurred, an image of Slade weaved in front of his eyes. Suddenly Slade grabbed his chin, forcing him to look him in the eye.

"I didn't hear you."

"I didn't say anything." Oliver attempted to spit at Slade, but didn't have much saliva to be effective.

Slade laughed. "It's rude not to answer your host." He gave Oliver two punches in his sore abdomen and let him swing back and forth, sending shocks of pain throughout his body. Slade had taken a step back to enjoy the spectacle. "Oh, does that hurt you some?"

Oliver attempted to give Slade his best Arrow glare, but wasn't very successful with a bloody nose and one eye almost swollen shut.

"What are you doing here in Starling City, Slade, really?"

"Oh, I thought my intentions were perfectly clear." Slade delivered two more punches to his side with deadly accuracy.

Oliver swallowed the rising nausea and tried to speak clearly through the waves of pain. "No. Are you making more mirakuru? If so, why?" Because of the pain, Oliver no longer had the patience or the time to pretend to be coy.

Slade stopped his momentum mid-punch, pulled back and met Oliver's gaze. "So. You did discover the factory and figured it out. Isabel doubted you would, but I knew better."

"So what are you up to, Slade?"

"Oh, is this the part of the story where the big bad criminal tells the dying hero his plans?"

"I'd argue with you about some of those words you use, but otherwise yes." _One good thing about his taunting...it's riling up my blood. Clearing my head. _

Sensing Oliver's growing irritation, a most maddening smile crossed Slade's face. "I shouldn't tell you and make you suffer. But I think it will be more painful for you if I let you know my plans for your beloved city." Slade grabbed his prisoner around the neck and pulled Oliver towards him. Speaking into Oliver's face, Slade growled. "I'm making an army of Mirakuru soldiers to plunder your city, Oliver. If I let you live past tonight, you'll watch it burn." Releasing his hold, Oliver again swung helplessly between the posts.

"Oh, and in case you think anyone will be able to either rescue you or stop my plans, I know what your cohorts are up to. I planted bugs in your hideout. Are you interested in knowing their plans?"

In spite of himself, Oliver closed his eyes to quickly regain his center. His friends walking into a trap, his city about to be destroyed, and here he was fresh out of ideas. Not to mention chained up and helpless, being flogged by a raving lunatic. Trying to hide his worry, Oliver said with a shake of his head, "Go ahead. They probably knew you were listening anyway."

"Yeah, right, Oliver." Slade walked away from Oliver, then suddenly turned back. "You know what they'll find waiting for them, Oliver? Twenty escaped convicts jacked up on mirakuru. Ready to take out their anger on someone. And your team will make very welcome targets."

_He's just trying to frighten me. He really wouldn't have them killed. Would he? Without me there?_

"Maybe even your little blonde."

Oliver twitched before he could control his reaction. He met Slade's gleeful expression with a silent, stony one of his own.

"So where's Isabel?"

"Oh, she's overseeing the final steps of the transformation. As well as supervising the take down of those you hold dear. She's especially looking forward to taking out Felicity."

"She usually doesn't..." _Oh crap._

Slade gave a coarse laugh. "You forget, Oliver. My bugs. Yes, I know your darling Felicity is staying behind in your hideout. With your sister."

Oliver's eyes reflexively closed before he could stop them, again betraying his true feelings to Slade. _Not only Felicity, but now Thea?_

Looking at his watch, Slade winked at Oliver. "I guess it's time for me to leave for now. But don't worry, I'll be back. Perhaps with company." A few moments of silence passed. "We'll see how this evening goes. I might decide to pick up either Ms. Smoak or your sister on my way back. If Isabel doesn't get to them first."

Oliver watched as Slade left. He was thankful Slade stopped the torture when he did, leaving him some reserves of energy. Oliver was certain the torture would resume upon Slade's return. But at least he'd have a little respite.

Looking around the room slowly, the results were the same as his last look. Nothing available for a weapon. Or as a means of escape. He was in the basement of some type of building. For a basement, it had a rather high ceiling. Only small windows near the top of the ceiling were intermittently dispersed around the room. Too small for him to crawl through. Listening, he didn't hear anyone else, but Oliver doubted Slade would leave him unguarded. No sounds at all giving away their location. Oliver again pulled on the chains holding him, to no avail. They were as secure as they had been the first time he had tried to pull them loose. No way to force them loose like he had done when Malcolm's prisoner two years ago.

Suddenly there was a loud noise, followed by a loud crash and a scream. Several minutes later, Malcolm entered the room and flew down the stairs, dressed again in his Dark Archer outfit. Oliver jumped, surprised by the man's appearance after he'd just thought of him. _Speak of the devil and here he is._

"Well, Oliver, I see you've gotten yourself in trouble again." He met Oliver's surprised look with his customary snide smile.

Oliver quirked his lips. "A little less talk and a lot more action, Malcolm. Slade is on his way to attack my team." Swallowing his irritation, Oliver said, "We really could use your help."

Reaching Oliver's side, Malcolm pulled a lock pick out of one of the hidden pockets of his battle vest. He stepped back to assess the younger man's situation.

"You haven't been strung up too long, so I should be able to free you by myself." Even so, Malcolm still got one of his shoulders under Oliver's right arm, braced himself, and worked on the cuff. He was able to take on Oliver's weight as he was released from the one set of chains. Malcolm slowly shifted so Oliver's feet were now firmly on the ground. After a moment Oliver nodded, indicating he felt steady. Malcolm removed his support and went to Oliver's left hand and unlocked its cuff.

Malcolm then not as gently as he thought placed a hand on Oliver's left shoulder. "Let me look at your battle wounds, Oliver. Wonder what we could use as bandages." He moved around Oliver to take a look.

"How many guards did you take down?" Oliver asked while Malcolm assessed the damage wrought by Slade.

"Three." Realization dawned on Malcolm. "Oh, I see what you think. I'll go upstairs and grab those shirts." Looking at Oliver's bare chest, he added, "Hopefully one of them will fit you."

Oliver watched as Malcolm bounded up the steps two at a time. Suddenly dizziness overcame him, resulting in his sitting down more quickly on the dirty floor than he would've liked. _It's better if I sit and rest for a moment anyway. _

Despite himself, Oliver felt consciousness begin to slip and was unable to open his eyes again until Malcolm returned with the shirts and a container of clean water, which he gently lowered to the ground next to Oliver. Tearing one of the shirts into strips, Malcolm then took one of the strips and quickly cleaned Oliver's wounds. He then took a fresh shirt and bandaged them. Malcolm then assisted Oliver into the third one, which was luckily a little larger.

Leaning down into his face, Malcolm searched out Oliver's eyes, noting the paleness of the younger man's face. "I don't know, Oliver. You might be more of a hindrance if you come with me to the factory."

Malcom watched as a look of determination appeared in Oliver's eyes, and his mouth set firmly in a grunt. "Nope, that ain't happening. Let's get going."

Malcom rolled his eyes, crouched down beside Oliver, counted to three and slowly helped Oliver back to a standing position. Oliver tamped down a grunt of pain and let out a nosy breath. By the look on Malcolm's face Oliver could tell he wanted to say something, but changed his mind with the glare Oliver was able to give him.

The two men made their way slowly down the block to the hidden car. Malcolm assisted Oliver into the passenger seat and got in behind the wheel without a word. They took off in a cloud of dust. Oliver, caught unawares, was knocked painfully against the car door. He bit back a cry of pain and quickly buckled his seat belt. Catching his eye, Oliver silently glared at Malcolm.

"What? Sorry for the jar, but we got to get there, right?"

Oliver silently acknowledged the truth of the statement and asked, "So do you know where we're heading?"

Malcolm looked sideways at Oliver. "I may have been piggybacking on that guy Slade's bugs. I heard your team's discussion today."

"So that's how you found me."

"No, that's how I knew you needed to be found. I had done my own research a few weeks ago and found this place as one of Slade's possible hideouts. I made an educated guess and found you here after I heard you were taken."

Oliver tightened the burst of anger he felt and channeled it into a calm but deadly voice. "And you failed to let me know where I could find Slade?"

Malcolm looked at Oliver. "When exactly would I'd have time for a sit-down with you? Slade's been doing nothing but playing sick games with you the past three days, keeping you occupied. I decided to wait for him to make what might be his final move before I did anything."

Oliver rolled his eyes, bit back an especially biting insult, and attempted to center himself. He had to call upon any possible reserves of energy within himself for the fight ahead. Malcolm was right to question the wisdom of Oliver accompanying him, but in no way was he going to trust the lives of his family to an ex-criminal, even if possibly reformed.

**AN: There goes another chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. A true battle is up next, giving Oliver the opportunity to kick some Australian butt.**


	10. Chapter 10: Final Fight and Resolution

Disclaimer: WB/DC own these characters. I do not, just the original ideas.

**AN: Thank you for returning to my story. Hope you enjoy this new chapter!****And I again apologize for lack of warning...it ends up being the last chapter after all. Thanks bunches for everyone who's stuck with it, and hope you're not disappointed. Thanks as always for all the favs, follows, and reviews! It indeed goes a LONG way in encouraging the writing. **

Previously:

_"__We weren't sure whether they were holding Oliver here. Guess we were right. Maybe Isabel is in there with the others, while Slade is elsewhere with Oliver."_

_"I say we sit tight and observe. Perhaps Felicity will track down Oliver or be able to hack into whatever surveillance system they have inside the building," Diggle said._

_"Yep, I've been trying to do both, Dig. No luck as yet."_

_Sara sighed. "I guess we are in for a little stake-out."_

Team Arrow kept their sights on the building from the rooftop across the street. The factory was in the outskirts of the city, so the silence was mostly interrupted with only the sounds of animal life. Not much traffic passed by, so they didn't have to worry about someone wondering what they were doing on the rooftop.

The waiting was wearing on the patience of the entire team. Roy was having difficulty keeping his nervous energy under wraps. Diggle bit back angry words he wanted to hurl at Roy, who was having difficulty sitting still. Instead Diggle glared at him several times to control his leg from continuing to bounce, making unnecessary noise. Sara was also having an uncharacteristically difficult time controlling her desire to be doing...something. She had to continually resettle herself to focus on the mission at hand.

Meanwhile, things weren't any easier at the lair. With all of her expertise, Felicity was still unable to access any electronic devices within the building, so she wasn't able to eavesdrop at all. She was rapidly losing a battle with her increasing frustration at how well Slade had covered his tracks. She occasionally reported on the status of her investigations to the team out in the field, not liking the fact she still hadn't discovered any feasible location yet as to where Oliver could be.

Thea broke the tense silence. "Why don't we call the police and tell them about the warehouse? Surely they could capture the Mirakuru guys somehow, don't you think?"

"Several problems with that. Why would they believe us? We don't have any proof. And they haven't done anything wrong. Yet."

"So we're just sitting here, doing nothing?"

"I know you're frustrated. I'm also worried about Oliver. Very worried." Felicity rolled her chair to look at the computer at a right angle from her. "But we are doing something. We're ruling out possible places where Oliver might be." She drummed her fingers on the desk. "Once we get some evidence, such as Isabel, Slade or Oliver in the building we can act."

"I still don't like it."

"Me neither. Sometimes the most difficult part of the job is the waiting." She exhaled a short huff of air. "Except when we hear the fighting and we don't know how badly they're hurt. That's worse." At Thea's worried expression Felicity regretted her rash statement and quickly added, "Oh, it sounds a lot worse than it ends up being." As she turned towards the computer she mumbled under her breath, "Usually."

Thea shook her head. She was beginning to rethink the advantages of being in on her brother's "secret".

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~

Previously:

_Malcolm looked at Oliver. "When exactly would I'd have time for a sit-down with you? Slade's been doing nothing but playing sick games with you the past three days, keeping you occupied. I decided to wait for him to make what might be his final move before I did anything."_

_Oliver rolled his eyes, bit back an especially biting insult, and attempted to center himself. He had to call upon any possible reserves of energy within himself for the fight ahead. Malcolm was right to question the wisdom of Oliver accompanying him, but in no way was he going to trust the lives of his family to an ex-criminal, even if possibly reformed. _

As they headed out of town, Oliver felt his anxiety rise. He hoped they weren't too late. "So, do you have your eavesdropping device with you? So we know if it's safe to contact my team? Or to get a heads up with what's going on?"

"No, I don't. It's at my hideout. Can't you just call them?"

"I don't have my cell phone. Slade didn't bring it when he kidnapped me."

Malcolm reached into his side pocket and pulled out a phone. Without taking his eyes off the road, he tossed it to Oliver, who caught it without difficulty. "Call them."

"I'd rather listen in to see if they're in trouble..."

"Sorry to disappoint you. I was too preoccupied with saving you to think about packing up my entire office."

"Whose phone is this exactly?"

"Don't worry. It's a burner phone. I have it set to be anonymous."

Oliver rolled his eyes. Another problem was whether he remembered anyone's number. Luckily he did remember Felicity's. If she would only answer.

After the third ring, Felicity's lighthearted voice came on with her voice mail message. "Hey, for some reason I'm not answering right now. Who knows what I'm doing. Please leave me a message so we can talk later." Oliver rolled his eyes. "Felicity, it's me. I'm with Malcolm. Call me back." He looked at Malcolm in frustration. "I can't believe she's not answering."

"Well, I hope you are feeling a little better. We are almost there, so you need to have your fighting groove on."

Oliver's lips turned down in a look of frustration and he exhaled loudly.

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~

"So what are you planning? Sitting here waiting for me?"

Team Arrow jumped at the unexpected question. As one, they turned to see the interruption. They were happy to see Oliver limping towards them but cautious about Malcolm being with him.

"Man, guys, I thought I trained you better than that. You're making me look bad in the presence of our company," Oliver teased.

Sara said, "As Felicity would say, you two are just super bad Ninjas." At Oliver's scoff, she said, "I don't know; that's all I got. You guys did good in sneaking up on us." It suddenly occurred to Sara that Oliver was looking the worse for wear. "Hey, are you alright? I guess you were in Slade's company long enough for him to do some damage."

Oliver attempted a nonchalant air. "I'm fine."

Malcolm interrupted. "I tried to talk him into sitting this one out, but you know how stubborn he gets."

A chuckle escaped Sara's lips as she nodded. "Oh yeah, tell me about it."

Oliver was about to reply when an Australian accent broke into his train of thought.

"I say, you as a team are certainly slipping. I for one am glad to see you all here. It will give me great pleasure to take care of you once and for all."

Oliver's blood ran cold. He turned, and indeed found Slade approaching. "We agree on only one thing, Slade. This, this will end today," he said as he got into a fighting stance.

An evil grin crossed Slade's face. "Bring it on, Kid. Bring it on."

The rest of the team but Malcolm surrounded Slade. As he leaped towards Slade, fists at the ready, Oliver was set to pound into Slade when Slade caught him in mid-flight. He got in several punches, but Slade, due to Oliver's weakened state, delivered an upper-cut, sending Oliver flying back. Diggle leaped in, pounding into Slade's abdomen with strong, even punches, which seemingly had no effect. Slade caught Diggle's right arm, yanked it at an angle, and dislocated Diggle's shoulder. He then pushed Diggle away, sending him flying away from him, in the opposite direction from Oliver.

Roy and Sara had been circling around the fight, waiting for an opening. While Slade's attention was momentarily diverted by Diggle, Roy took advantage and got behind Slade. He grabbed Slade around the neck in one movement and applied as much pressure as he could. It took everything he had, but he was able to restrain Slade. As he was holding him, Sara got in a few punches, attempting to blacken an eye or bloody a lip but were only met with minimal success due to the Mirakuru within him.

Suddenly Slade was able to flip Roy over his shoulder. He turned, only to receive several arrows from Malcolm. Slade then slid to the ground to the Team Arrow's astonishment.

"How did you do that?" Sara asked.

"The League has been aware of Mirakuru for generations. They developed an antidote, to remove the superstrength. It works better with pit viper venom; thus, the reason for his unconsciousness."

"And we have taken into custody the twenty former super soldiers in the warehouse using a similar formula we have developed," Amanda Waller said as she approached the group. "As well as Ms. Rochev. They are all now loaded into ARGUS vans, ready for transport."

Oliver struggled to his feet. "Hello Amanda. What are you doing here?"

"Apparently saving all of your butts." Her heels managing to click-clack on the roof's uneven surface, she walked towards Slade. "No, 'thank you' isn't necessary." She paused to give Oliver a particularly snide laugh and grin. "Or expected."

"How'd you know we needed..." Oliver cleared his throat. "Help?" He forced from uncooperative lips.

"We've been tracking Slade Wilson, aka 'Deathstroke' across Europe. He's been leaving a trail of bodies behind. Acting as an assassin-for-hire." Amanda gave a small 'humph'. "Doubtless to fund his little revenge-fueled escapade here against you, Oliver."

"Undoubtedly." Oliver straightened up, looked Amanda in the eye and said, "Thank you for your assistance. And for taking care of Slade, Isabel and the rest of them."

"You're welcome."

"Guys? Hey, did you forget about us?" Felicity's voice came through their comms.

Amanda gave Oliver a different smile. "I will let you answer your colleague, and we will take our leave." She nodded behind her and three men in business suits approached Slade, picked him up, and headed back down the side of the building. Amanda followed.

"Overwatch, all is clear. ARGUS had arrived and is taking away the…."

"Evil men jacked up on Mirakuru? Yay!" Team Arrow smiled at Felicity's enthusiasm. "Hurry back so we can celebrate."

Roy smiled. "That is the best idea I've heard all day."

~~OQ~~FS~~OQ~~FS~~

It wasn't as though Oliver didn't trust Amanda. Why wouldn't he trust her? She had only always lied to him throughout the entire time he had known her. Because of their turbulent history, Oliver told Amanda he was going to visit Slade in the new ARGUS prison on Lian Yu. He was going to inspect the premises himself to ensure it would be effective in holding Slade. No, he didn't ask, he told Amanda he would be arriving the next day to verify the arrangements of Slade's imprisonment.

Oliver was impressed with the Super-Max prison now breaking up the horizon on Lian Yu. _At last this terrible island is being used for a redeeming purpose._

He climbed down the unusual security tunnel into the lead-lined basement. He walked down the long hallway past empty cells, and approached a guard at a connecting door. After showing the guard his identification, Oliver went through the door and stepped into a brightly lit hallway lined on both sides with cells. He walked past the other criminals, who were surprisingly quiet. At the last one, the Australian met him at the iron bars.

"So, you couldn't stay away, huh, Kid?"

"I needed to see with my own eyes the type of prison which will be your home for the next twenty years, or so."

"This ain't over yet, kid. Don't doubt for one second. I will get out and finish the job. I will take away everything, and everyone, you love."

"That's what you think, Slade. How ironic, you are back where it all began."

"If I were you, Kid, I wouldn't be too cocky. You could so easily be in here as well. And some day, you will be. If you aren't dead first."

Oliver looked at Slade with a cold blue-steel glare. "Keep telling yourself that, Slade. You're going to pay for crimes you've committed since you left the island. Not just to me, my family, and my team. All those murders-for-hire across Europe you committed. ARGUS will make sure you will."

At Slade's incredulous look, Oliver said, "Oh yeah, you thought no one knew about those. There's not much ARGUS doesn't know about."

"You can be as flippant as you want, but I'm glad I've made your life hell. Has 'little sister' forgiven you yet for lying to you? Has 'mommy dearest' disowned you because you spend your nights in green leather?"

"Sorry to disappoint you, Slade, but my family totally supports me." Oliver fixed upon Slade his worse Arrow glare. "Don't you _ever_ threaten my family or my team again. This…this vendetta? It is _over. _Over, Slade. Move on. I have."

Oliver turned around and kept on walking, despite all the threats and insults Slade continued to throw at him. He climbed the ladder, and pulled himself out of the hatch door of the prison. Sighing, he closed the hatch, ensuring it latched securely. And walked away without a second glance.

**AN: Well, that's it, I guess. Hope you enjoyed the story overall, and this last chapter. (I'm beginning to realize I'm better at writing beginnings than endings, sigh. Just gotta keep practicing, I suppose). If you like, please let me know with a review. Also, thank you to the anonymous guest(s) providing occasional suggestions throughout this story. I've been able to use some of those suggestions for this story, so I thank you. Others simply did not fit. For this particular story. So we shall see. Hope you will come back to read my other stories; always greatly appreciated. **


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